Minister Kareem Musa says Belizeans living abroad should vote in elections

In November 2018, PUP Caribbean Shores area representative Kareem Musa outlined a proposal to amend the Representation of the People Act to allow Belizeans living in the diaspora an opportunity to vote in elections in Belize. Since then, there have been efforts to engage Belizeans living in the U.S. but no progress on the proposed legislative changes. More than four years later, Love News asked Minister Musa whether those proposed amendments will come. Here’s what he had to say about that. 

Hon. Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries: “I still firmly believe that dual citizens, those living abroad in the diaspora should have the right to vote in our elections. So in order for that to happen there is a very simple legislation that would need adjusting which is the two or three month requirement that you reside at a particular residence. So it will still require Belizeans living abroad to come to Belize and to register to vote utilizing their family house so to speak or a residence that they’re normally at. That to me is an easy solution to this. I don’t think we are so advanced to the point where we can allow for proxy voting for diaspora Belizeans or to allow for electronic voting I think there’s a lot of skepticism there so I don’t think we are there yet but certainly amending the law and I’m sure that the Ministry of Diaspora Relations is definitely exploring that avenue to see if that amendment could take place in the law which would allow dual citizens to vote.”