Dear Sir:

When I was growing up in Dangriga, the two main political parties were the People’s United Party and the National Independence Party. The People’s United Party used to win most of the general elections but the Town Board elections used to split regularly between the two major parties.

Over the years, that has changed since our country became Independent on September 21, 1981. The National Independence Party’s name has changed to the United Democratic Party. These two parties are still the leading political parties in the country of Belize today.

When the NIP lost the general election, they complained that the reason why they lost was because many dead people voted in the elections. I was wondering how dead people could vote in an election if they were already dead.

Well, it was the PUP using the names of the people who were already dead but their names were kept on the Voter Registration List given to another PUP to go and vote in that person’s name.

Before an election is held in Belize, the political parties contesting the elections are given a chance to go to court and revise the Voter Registration List. All the political parties must present evidence that the people on the list are dead or no longer living in Belize and their whereabouts are unknown.

If the Presiding Officer at the hearing agrees with the political party, the names of these persons on the Voter Registration List are then removed.

Over the years, that problem has been reduced because most Belizean voters are issued a Voter Identification Card with their pictures after they have registered to vote. In order to register, a Belizean must prove that he or she is a citizen of Belize by showing his birth certificate, passport, social security card or other required documents.

Aliens who have been granted amnesty by the Belizean government are naturalized citizens of Belize and they too can also register to vote.

The government of Belize has been selling Belizean passports and citizenships to foreign nationals for many years now. These people are not Belizean citizens and purchased their passports and citizenships solely to transit Belize and come to the United States.

In my opinion, these people must not be allowed to vote. The People’s United Party has been registering Illegal aliens from Guatemala, Mexico and El Salvador to vote in Belize’s election. In fact, there was a year when Zabaneh brought bus loads of illegal aliens from Cow Pen to register them to vote and the Dangriga people went to the Registration Office with machetes and chased them out of our town.

The amount of passports and citizenships sold and given to foreign nationals and illegal aliens is not known by the United Democratic Party and the citizens of Belize.

The People’s United Party are desperate to win this election because they are afraid of the possible consequences they will have to face if they should lose this election.

Remember, politics is about having and using power and it is not nice to be in politics and become powerless. I am strongly urging the United Democratic Party to request that foreign international observers come to Belize to monitor this upcoming general election. The objective of this election is to win and for the United Democratic Party to win they should utilise all the resources available to them to become victorious.

Wellington C. Ramos