Court Removes 24 Names from Cayo North Voters’ List After UDP Queries Registrations

Twenty-four persons have been rejected from the voters’ list for the Cayo North constituency. The court ruled on this earlier in the week after it found that these persons had lacked some requirements.  The United Democratic Party’s Cayo North Standard Bearer, Omar Figueroa, and his attorney, Jacqueline Willoughby, reportedly queried the list of transfers and new registrations using the annual review process.  On Monday evening, Magistrate Kara Walters, objected to the inclusion of the 24 names.  Speaking on the matter was Attorney Dickie Bradley who appeared in court on behalf of the PUP’s Cayo North Representative, Michel Chebat.

Richard “Dickie” Bradley, Attorney: “Leroy Banner is the attorney, the lead attorney, and what transpired is that when the annual list was published the objections amounted to about 162 objections to the annual list. But most of those failed and I think twenty or twenty two or twenty three are subject of an appeal. My understanding is that the voters who have been….the word under the law is that they’re struck off from the list, they are disenfranchised, they can’t vote but that matter is under appeal according to what I was made to understand late yesterday evening. So what is happening basically is that every year under the law the first of October in one year to the end of October in another year is a period where after October the registering officer publishes in the gazette and makes it available to the public that this is the list for the period that’s called the annual list. That follows the fact that every month there is a monthly list of persons who have gone in to the registering office in Cayo or Cayo North in this case and they applied to be a registered voter. When the application is checked out to the satisfaction of the registering officer and her other assistants in the office the person’s name is entered on the list and the list is published of persons who have applied.”

Attorney Bradley went on to say that most of the objections were baseless and explained that the decision has disenfranchised the voters, who may now have to spend months in court challenging the ruling. 

Richard “Dickie” Bradley, Attorney: “So what has been going on in San Ignacio for the Cayo North Electoral area is that there have been lots of objections just about all those objections have fallen by the wayside, there are no merits to them, they are putting up objections to persons who are not even on the annual list they had registered previously. Except for one objector who is claiming he’s a street captain and that the person did not live at the address. So those voters are in jeopardy but late last night I understand that the voters have been contacted and they are going to appeal the decision that they are not to be on the list. That is basically what has transpired. As you know all across the country it would seem that the politicians are getting ready for elections next year and when I say next year I’m talking about November next year when it is constitutionally due. We go for five years, in America Donald Trump will go for four years. So any name that appears in any voters list as a new voter is going to be under heavy scrutiny that is the nature of that game.”

Back in September, Figueroa had written to the Governor General alleging voter fraud at the Election and Boundaries office in Cayo North. He claimed that almost one hundred persons were fraudulently registered in the constituency during the last transfer period. The complaint had triggered an unprecedented move by the magistrate who proceeded to do physical inspections of addresses provided on the voters’ list.