Nancy Marin Alleges Electoral Fraud in Georgeville Village Elections

The Leader of the Belize People’s Front (BPF), Nancy Marin, has officially raised alarm over what she describes as quote “clear instances of electoral fraud” end of quote during the June 29 village council elections in Georgeville, Cayo District. In a strongly worded letter addressed to the Elections and Boundaries Commission and the Chief Elections Officer, Marin alleges that vote buying was openly carried out in the community. She claims that goods and money were distributed in exchange for votes, and that these actions occurred in public view, even in the presence of police officers. Love News spoke to Marin who explained that her party has gathered both photographic and video evidence and is prepared to submit it through the appropriate channels.

Nancy Marin, BPF Party Leader: “The first indication that there was going to be electoral fraud is that two days before  the election the chairlady, the now chairlady of Georgeville,  PUP candidate, started posting that they were giving out the land and the people can come and sign. This is Friday. The election was going to be on Sunday. And so this is an indication of them trying to bribe people. So then what we did is that we got a couple of our people just specifically to take footage, to video and photograph what was happening.  When we got there, there were grocery bags being given out. There was $100, $50 being handed to people. At first, they were doing it in a corner behind our tent, we were videoing that. And then they moved to inside a black vehicle. We followed them and I personally went there and stood there along with the camera people that were with me and then they moved from there and then they went into a local store doing it behind the counter. We went in, we took footage of that and then came and when they were videoing him he said “let me pay the guy, let me pay the guy. This is my money, I’m paying with my money.” So he admittedly on camera without any qualms, admitted, I’m paying the guy and it’s my money. We are no longer winning elections. They have normalized buying elections.”

The BPF candidates closely trailed the People’s United Party (PUP) slate, with the PUP’s Jones securing the chairperson seat by a slim margin of 129 votes to BPF’s 113.