Beginning 1" July, 2018, every registered elector needs to be registered afresh, and any other person who has not yet registered to vote can apply to be registered.
1. Qualification
a. is eighteen years of age and over; and
b. i. is a citizen of Belize; or
ii. is a citizen of any commonwealth country who has ordinarily resided in Belize for a period of not less than twelve months; and
c. is resident for a period of not less than two months in the electoral division in which he seeks registration.
2. Application Process:
Personally take along either of the following original documents to the Registration Center in the electoral division where you reside:
Belizean Birth Certificate and a photo ID (Social Security Card or photograph certified, stamped and signed by a Justice of the Peace); or
Valid Belizean Passport; or
Belizean Nationality Certificate, (Social Security Card or photograph certified, stamped and signed by a Justice of the Peace is required for certificates without picture); or
Original Commonwealth Citizen Country's Passport
Other Documents
Marriage and/or Divorce Certificate for females (where applicable); or
Deed Poll accompanied by Birth Certificate and a photo ID (Social Security Card or photograph certified, stamped and signed by a Justice of the Peace); or
Adoption Certificate and a photo ID (Social Security Card or photograph certified, stamped and signed by a Justice of the Peace)
In exceptional cases only, where a person is desirous of being registered as an elector and is unable to produce his birth certificate or other documents the applicant must:
Bring along a photograph certified, stamped and signed by a Justice of the Peace to be a true likeness of the person
Complete a form available at the registration center or area where the person is seeking registration specifying his name, address, date and place of birth, parents particulars and such other particulars as may be necessary to enable the General Registry or Immigration Department to verify the correctness.
3. All applicants are reminded that it is an OFFENCE to make a false statement for the purpose of being registered as an elector.
All applicants are encouraged to take along their documentation to the Registration Center to facilitate the process.
Re-registration is to register afresh or anew, without being re-registered, YOU CANNOT VOTE IN AN ELECTION. All eligible persons are being encouraged to participate in this Re-registration of Electors Exercise.
Voting is POWER!!! For Further information visit the Elections and Boundaries Department website at: www.elections.gov.bz or any of the Elections and Boundaries Department Registration Offices countrywide
National Re-Registration Exercise Process, on Open Your Eyes
Diaspora Belizeans Shut Out of Re-Registration over Residency
Chief Elections Officer Josephine Tamai appeared on this morning's Open Your Eyes to discuss the upcoming re-registration process. The first and only re-registration of voters took place in 1997 and has been repeatedly put off, but it is law and applicable to all of Belize's two hundred and four thousand voters, even those who may have registered to vote before the start of re-registration on July first. That means that you must, once you are eighteen and over and a citizen of Belize, or of any Commonwealth country and living here for twelve months and in your specific division for two, find the registration office for your constituency in July and August. But what does that mean for Belizeans living outside of the country? Tamai explains the procedure.
Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer
"One of the qualifications is you need to reside at that address, for not less than two months. So for persons living abroad, they haven't resided in Belize within a constituency in the last two months, so those persons would not meet the criteria."
John Palacio
"Wow."
Marleni Cuellar
"The only people would be persons on official work duty?"
Josephine Tamai
"Right, because in terms of residence, the Constitution speaks to residence, and it defines residency if you're out on the service of the Government of Belize; if you're out for some medical attention which is beneficial to your health, approved by a medical practitioner - again, for those persons and those persons who are [on] approved course of studies; so those three categories, if those persons are out, then it is not considered that they are not residents of Belize; they are still a resident of Belize."
Marleni Cuellar
"What type of proof do they have to provide, for example those students who are studying at this time?"
Josephine Tamai
"For students, they have to provide proof that they are a student; so we would have to get records from the school to show that you are a student."
The Elections and Boundaries Department hereby provides the public with the following information regarding the upcoming re-registration of electors exercise:
Proclamation- Appointment of Commencement Day for Re-Registration
Statutory Instrument No. 47 of 2017 is a proclamation issued by the Governor General altering the date for the commencement of the re-registration exercise to be carried out from 1st July 2017 to 1st July 2018.
Purpose of a Re-Registration
The Representation of the People Act (ROPA) states that there shall be carried out a complete re-registration of electors every twenty years, the first being in 1st July 1997 (Statutory Instrument Numbers 17 of 2007 and 7 of 2012).
The exercise paves the way for the creation of new registers of electors and issuance of new voter identification cards to all qualified electors who participated in the exercise.
Re-Registration Strategy
Since 1st July 2018 will fall on a Sunday, the mass registration begins on Monday, 2nd July 2018. The traditional buildings used as polling stations will be used as registration centers. Efforts are being made not to utilize high schools since, in most cases, these buildings are used for summer classes and workshops. All centers will be manned by Temporary Assistant Registering Officers who have been recruited by the Ministry of the Public Service. Centers will be opened from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Mondays to Fridays, and from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays. Investigations will be conducted every day of the week.
There will be scheduled visits made to villages in an effort to reach out to as many communities as possible.
The Registering Officers will also accommodate senior citizens and persons with any physical incapacity who request such assistance.
At the end of August 2018, registration centers will be closed, and the Elections and Boundaries Department Registration Offices countrywide will be utilized for the ongoing re-registration exercise.
After the mass registration is completed, in accordance with Rule 22 of the Representation of the People Registration Rules, the Registering Officer shall on a date specified, in consultation with the Chief Elections Officer, by the Minister; by order published in the Gazette, prepare and publish registers of electors. Fourteen (14) days will be allowed for objections and rectification of particulars, after which they would be revised by the courts. After this, normal registration will continue with monthly supplementary lists being added to the register. In accordance with Rule 8(3) of the Representation of the People Registration Rules, political parties are afforded the opportunity to have scrutineers at the registration centers to observe the registration process.
Documents required for Registration
The policy of requiring proof of citizenship, age, and authentication of documents tendered shall be strictly enforced.
In exceptional cases only, those who are unable to produce proof of citizenship and age, are required to bring along a photograph certified, stamped, and signed by a Justice of the Peace to be a true likeness of the person. Applicants are then requested to complete a form available at the registration center or area, which will be forwarded to the General Registry or Immigration Department for verification of the particulars provided.
Transparency of the Re-Registration Process
As soon as the Registering Officers publish the new registers of electors, there will be notices published specifying the places where the registers will be available for inspection.
All eligible persons are being encouraged to participate in this Re-registration Exercise.
It's 11 years late, but re-registration is finally here. The last time the government cleaned up the voter's list was 1997, over two decades ago. The Elections and Boundaries Office has been preparing for the two month long operation which starts on Monday, July second. They have budgeted about $8 million to get it done and today Chief Elections Officer, Josephine Tamai, told the media how they plan to get it done ...
Josephine Tamai - Chief Elections Officer "From the Elections and Boundaries standpoint we are prepared for the mass re-registration commencing this Monday the 2nd of July, 2018. As persons know this exercise commences on Monday and the mass registration at the various registration centers will close on the 31st of August 2018. After the 31st, which starts on the 1st of September then persons will be required to visit our regular registration offices throughout the country to do their registration. We want to urge persons to take advantage of the opportunity at the registration centers that we will be having. We will be reaching out to persons in order for them to have access to the registration centers. These centers, I want to remind the public that these centers will be opened from Monday to Fridays from 9am to 7pm, on Saturdays from 10am to 4pm. Where we will be having visits in the villages and in some other areas, those visits will take place between the hours of 9am and 5pm on those days."
Re-registration officially starts on July 2nd. Information about registration centers will be available in newspapers as well as ELECTIONS.GOV.BZ.
This morning at 9:00, re-registration started today at over 60 centers countrywide. When we toured a few in the city we found people already lined up at some centers, like Wesley Lower school in Albert, and Grace Primary in Mesop, while a center like Trinity Methodist in Caribbean Shores had hardly anyone, and St. Mary's in Fort George had only seen two re-registrants since morning.
It's a slow start but they the time the exercise finishes in September - the elections and boundaries office hopes to re-register about two hundred thousand electors.
On Friday, the Chief Elections Officer told us that they are focussed on making the process as service oriented as possible:..
Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer "You may find lines when you go to the registration centers. We want to ensure that the process is free and that's its fast. So we need to ensure that these person are adequately trained in terms of utilizing the system, how to take the photographs and all those things, so that the lines move much faster and so that the public do not get frustrated, because we are not here to frustrate anybody. We are here to ensure that there is a smooth process and to give persons the opportunity to come out and get registered."
"This exercise, it starts from the 1st July. We have already did our notice to encourage persons to apply up to the 30th September. So every who applies between the months of July and September - all applications that have been processed up to the 30th September, in the month of October - closer to the ending of the month then we will have a revision list that persons can view. That is what we call the new register. We will be sharing the information that we received with the political parties on a monthly basis and if we have mass turn out, quite possibly that it will be every two weeks, every week, depending on the turnouts."
"So that has been agreed and when it comes to observing, even the verification, the political parties have representation at the registration centers even when the information from vital statistic unit and from immigration department comes and we have to send those to verify, the political parties will have scrutineers here at the central office to observe that process. So the card will be issued for all persons until the end of this year. Because remember it's a process. So we have to ensure that all investigations have been carried out before we could even issue a card. So no identification card will be issued prior to December of this year."
"A budget of 8 million dollars was approved to us. It's a bit tight as we know. Because people might say oh 8 million is a lot. But I will tell you for an exercise of this magnitude it's not much. But we are working with what it is that we have and doing the best with the resources that we have."
You can find a full list of re-registration centers at 7Newsbelize.com
Centers countrywide are opened from 9:00 in the morning to 7:00 in the evening on every weekday and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Visits to remote villages will be carried out between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
At the end of the ReRegistration Period the current voters list will be null and void. Anyone who wishes to vote in any election after that will have to be on the new list which will comprise only those who have reregistered or have registered for the first time after July 1, 2018. If you are now registered to vote but do not reregister you will not be allowed to vote in any future election no matter what!!! As of July 1 2018 there is no voters list - a new voters list will comprise of those who register OR reregister after July 1 2018.
For months now we've been reporting on re-registration. It's part of the awareness campaign to get voters mobilised to go to their nearest polling station and get re-registered. For some, particularly those with the least resources in rural areas, it can mean long walks or bus rides on hot days to get to that polling station. But what no one told them is that - if they show up in a shirt or blouse without sleeves they'll be rejected. That's right - it wasn't part of the information campaign - but if you do not have sleeves on your shirt or top, you cannot re-register.
Our News Director Jules Vasquez who is no fan of re-registration in the first place - found this requirement a bit much - and so he decided to test it. He narrates how that went:
Now, we aren't sure whether his application was rejected or accepted - since a receipt was written out - but after that, a supervisor objected and Jules was told to leave the receipt there. We'll see where it goes.
And, a note, both political parties told us they keep jackets at their scrutineers stations for persons with sleeveless tops.
As the national voter re-registration process continues nationwide, the Elections and Boundaries office in Belize City has confirmed an extension for Caye Caulker. Residents had lobbied for additional time after only having from July 16th to the 23rd in the first re-registration exercise. The new extension is now from Wednesday, August 8th to the 13th, and all Hicaque�os who have yet to re-register are encouraged to visit their Community Centre to do so. According to reports from Elections and Boundaries, up to July 28th, a total of 70,009 applications for re-registration had been accepted countrywide.
Unconfirmed reports for Belize Rural South, which includes Ambergris Caye and Caye Caulker, states that only 3,000 persons have re-registered from a previous list of over 9,700 voters. Thus, local authorities are urging islanders to head to the registration centers: San Pedro Roman Catholic Primary School for San Pedro Town and the Community Centre for Caye Caulker Village.
Elections and Boundaries remind the public that applications for registration as an elector will be accepted at any of the registration centers in their respective electoral division. Documents required to register to include a Belizean birth certificate and a photo ID (Social Security card), or photograph certified, stamped, and signed by a Justice of the Peace (JP), or valid Belizean passport. Commonwealth passports and naturalization certificates are also be accepted. If the document has no picture, bring along a photograph certified, and signed by a JP.
Click here to read the rest of the article in the San Pedro Sun
The Elections and Boundaries Department is reporting tonight that as of August 11th, ninety thousand, eight hundred and seventy-three (90,873) Belizeans have re-registered, and can vote in any elections.
In week 6 of the re-registration exercise, which ran from August 5th to the 11th, only nine thousand, three hundred and twenty (9,320) applicants showed up to be added back to the country’s list of registered voters. Those numbers are the lowest to date.
In week 5, just 11 thousand, 500 voters re-registered, and in week 4, there were 15 thousand, 500 applications.
But, for those of you how still haven’t showed up to re-register, the Elections and Boundaries Department is urging you to do so because the registration centers in the 31 electoral divisions countrywide will be closed after August 31.
On Monday, September 3rd, all other persons who haven’t re-registered by then will have to do so at the Elections and Boundaries registration offices.
The opinions and views expressed on this board are the subjective opinions of Ambergris Caye Message Board members and not of the Ambergris Caye Message Board its affiliates, or its employees.
AmbergrisCaye.com 
"From the Elections and Boundaries standpoint we are prepared for the mass re-registration commencing this Monday the 2nd of July, 2018. As persons know this exercise commences on Monday and the mass registration at the various registration centers will close on the 31st of August 2018. After the 31st, which starts on the 1st of September then persons will be required to visit our regular registration offices throughout the country to do their registration. We want to urge persons to take advantage of the opportunity at the registration centers that we will be having. We will be reaching out to persons in order for them to have access to the registration centers. These centers, I want to remind the public that these centers will be opened from Monday to Fridays from 9am to 7pm, on Saturdays from 10am to 4pm. Where we will be having visits in the villages and in some other areas, those visits will take place between the hours of 9am and 5pm on those days."
This morning at 9:00, re-registration started today at over 60 centers countrywide. When we toured a few in the city we found people already lined up at some centers, like Wesley Lower school in Albert, and Grace Primary in Mesop, while a center like Trinity Methodist in Caribbean Shores had hardly anyone, and St. Mary's in Fort George had only seen two re-registrants since morning.
"This exercise, it starts from the 1st July. We have already did our notice to encourage persons to apply up to the 30th September. So every who applies between the months of July and September - all applications that have been processed up to the 30th September, in the month of October - closer to the ending of the month then we will have a revision list that persons can view. That is what we call the new register. We will be sharing the information that we received with the political parties on a monthly basis and if we have mass turn out, quite possibly that it will be every two weeks, every week, depending on the turnouts."
