Residents in Cayo North will have a new elected area representative at the end of a by-election that is being held today January 5th. A total of 6598 registered voters will be able to cast their votes between the hours of 7AM and 6PM at two polling stations. The two candidates contesting the election are the People’s United Party’s (PUP) Richard Harrison and the United Democratic Party’s (UDP) Omar Figueroa. The two candidates and their political machinery had exactly one month to prepare for the by-election which was triggered by the resignation of the PUP’s Joseph Mahmud from parliament.
Since Sunday January 4th, the two mass parties had placed banners, flyers and flags around the two polling stations and throughout the Cayo North constituency. At polling station number 73, located at Sacred Heart Primary RC School located in San Ignacio Town, 5056 registered voters will be legible to cast their votes. At the smaller polling station number 75, located at the Immaculate Conception RC School in Bullet Tree Falls Village, a total of 1542 registered voters will be legible to go to the polls.
Following the inspection of the ballot boxes and papers, the two polling stations saw the machineries of the mass parties kick into action. At the two polling stations, at 7AM the voting got to an early start when electorates began taking their respective lines to cast their votes. Both candidates appeared calm and in separate interviews, expressed confidence while appealing to the electorates of their constituency to come out early and exercise their democratic right.
According to Returning Officer Marcelo Windsor, as of 8AM 375 votes have been cast at polling station 73 at Sacred Heart Primary RC School which represents 6.4% of the registered voters. At polling station 75 at Immaculate Conception RC School in Bullet Tree Falls Village, 161 votes were cast, which represents 10.4% of the registered voters.
has been joined by senior members of the UDP and Cabinet ministers including the Prime Minister of Belize, Hon. Dean Barrow. On the other hand, Harrison is counting on the support of his PUP leaders including the Leader of the Opposition Hon. Francis Fonseca and other elected PUP parliamentarians.
When the polls close at 6PM, the ballot boxes containing the cast votes will be transported to the Center for Employment Training (CET) building in San Ignacio where counting is expected to start at 8PM. The San Pedro Sun will have continuous updated throughout the day up until the official results are announced.
