Elections in Belize

Belize uses parliamentary elections to choose the elected members of the House of Representatives. The country has 31 electoral divisions, and each division elects one House member. Voters select one candidate on the ballot; the candidate with the highest number of votes wins, even without an overall majority of all votes cast nationwide. The Senate is part of the National Assembly but is not elected directly by voters. It has 13 appointed members: six appointed on the Prime Minister’s advice, three on the Leader of the Opposition’s advice, and four representing specified church, business, trade-union, civil-society and non-governmental-organisation interests. If an organisation does not provide its advice within 14 days, the Governor-General appoints the member on the advice of the Belize Advisory Council. The Elections and Boundaries Commission directs and supervises voter registration, elections and referenda and performs its constitutional functions independently. The Elections and Boundaries Department manages daily administration, electoral registers, voter identification cards, transfers between divisions, elections and voter education. The Chief Elections Officer heads the Department. In each division, a Returning Officer manages nominations, polling, counting and the return of the result; Revising Officers conduct the monthly registration-court process. A voter generally has to be at least 18 years old, be a Belize citizen or qualifying Commonwealth citizen, satisfy the applicable residence or domicile rule, and appear in the proper electoral register with a voter ID card. A qualifying Commonwealth citizen ordinarily resident in Belize for at least 12 months can be eligible; other rules apply to a Commonwealth citizen domiciled and ordinarily resident in Belize. Residence in the electoral division generally has to cover at least two months. A bona fide Belizean student abroad or a person serving on official government duty can retain the relevant division connection under the stated rules. People under 18, people serving a sentence of more than 12 months including a suspended sentence, people legally certified as of unsound mind or confined in a mental-illness institution, and people subject to another statutory disqualification cannot vote. A voter cannot appear on multiple registers or vote in more than one division. Registration is continuous on working days through a personal application at an Elections and Boundaries Department registration office. Documents that can establish identity or status include a birth certificate, passport, naturalization certificate, adoption certificate, deed poll or Belizean nationality certificate. The applicant completes the form and record card, provides a photograph, and may undergo an investigation of residence and other particulars. The Supplementary List is available for public scrutiny from the 15th to the 25th of the month. Objections can lead to registered-mail and newspaper or Gazette notices, followed by a Revision Court at the end of the month. The revised list is generally issued around the fifth day of the following month, and the ID card usually follows about one week later. Registration services operate through 14 district offices and one sub-office. The voter lookup service uses first name, last name and date of birth to identify the polling area and polling station. Electoral divisions are governed by section 90 of the Constitution and the boundary-redivision process involving the Commission and the National Assembly. The Chief Elections Officer sets polling areas and stations with the Commission’s approval. A published change can trigger provisional registers and a 10-day correction and objection period. Exact register cutoffs, polling stations and boundary changes depend on the current official notice and Gazette publication. A candidate files a nomination paper with the Returning Officer between 10:00 and 16:00. Six registered electors from the division sign the paper, the candidate gives assent, and the candidate pays a 200-dollar deposit. The deposit returns when the candidate is elected or receives more than one tenth of the valid counted ballots; an unelected candidate at or below that threshold forfeits it. An elector can object to a nomination, and a candidate can stand in only one division. If only one candidate remains at 16:00, the Returning Officer declares that candidate elected. With more than one candidate, polling takes place 15 to 21 days after nomination. Polling hours set by statute are 07:00 to 18:00. The elector attends the assigned division and polling station, states the name and residence, presents identification, receives a ballot initialled by the Presiding Officer, and has the name called aloud while the Poll Clerk marks the register. The elector marks one candidate in a secret booth, folds the ballot to conceal the vote while leaving the initials visible, places it in the ballot box and exits. Candidate or agent identity challenges can occur. Each candidate may have up to two polling agents at a station and up to three counting agents. Ordinary postal voting and electronic voting were not evidenced in the official law and Department material consulted for this factsheet. Proxy voting is limited to categories such as Belize diplomatic-mission staff and their spouses or dependants, Belize Defence Force members, Belize Police Department personnel assigned to election-day duty, election officers, and transport or assistance staff. The proxy must be at least 18, registered and legally capable. The application must be made in writing within seven clear days after the writ, with the required attestation by a Justice of the Peace, Notary Public, Belize Honorary Consul or competent service authority. The elector and proxy cannot both vote, one elector cannot appoint more than one proxy, and a political-party agent cannot act as proxy. A voter with blindness or a physical incapacity can request assistance from the Presiding Officer, with agents present and the reason, name and number recorded. A spoilt ballot can be exchanged and cancelled before counting. Employers must allow reasonable voting time without deducting pay. Transport, time and document-replacement costs may still arise, but the consulted official material did not state a statutory registration or voting fee. After the polls close, officials seal the ballot boxes, unused and spoilt ballots and marked registers for transport. The Returning Officer opens the boxes after receipt, reconciles the issued, unused, spoilt and returned ballots, and counts votes by candidate in the presence of candidates or agents. A candidate or agent can request a recount or recheck, and the Returning Officer can order one. The candidate with the highest vote is declared elected. A tie leads to a new election within three months. Divisional returns go to the Chief Elections Officer and are published in the Gazette. A voter or candidate can challenge an election through an election petition before the Election Judge or Supreme Court, normally within 21 days after Gazette publication of the result. A corrupt-practice allegation can involve a statutory 28-day rule. The court can void an election, alter the return, declare another candidate elected or order scrutiny or recount; an appeal to the Court of Appeal is available on a question of law. Election offences and integrity rules cover bribery, treating, undue influence, personation, secrecy breaches, multiple registration or voting, ballot interference, restrictions on propaganda, loudspeakers and banners, and restrictions on liquor sales during the polling and counting period. The exact penalty and date provisions require checking the current version of Cap. 9, statutory instruments and Gazette notices because the Elections and Boundaries Department hosts a Revised Edition 2000. The latest national snapshot in the supplied official research concerns the general election held on 12 March 2025 from 07:00 to 18:00. The Elections and Boundaries Department’s final summary recorded 197,018 registered electors, 128,002 ballots cast, 64.97% turnout and 2,703 rejected ballots, equal to 2.11%; the People’s United Party recorded 85,096 votes, or 66.48%, in aggregate. The official division-level results are controlled by the Department’s final results publication, while dashboards may update separately. Belize also holds municipal elections in seven towns and two cities every three years. Belize City elects one Mayor and ten Councillors; Belmopan and the towns each elect one Mayor and six Councillors. Village and community councils also meet a three-year cycle and elect one Chairperson and six members. These local elections follow separate rules under Cap. 85, 86, 87 and 88, so their eligibility, nomination and polling details should not be assumed to match House elections. Exact election dates, writs, nomination periods, register cutoffs, by-elections and petition deadlines should be checked in the current Elections and Boundaries Department notice and Gazette.