Election Concerns Threaten UDP’s Municipal Stronghold
The United Democratic Party is fighting to hold on to the only municipality it controls, but its first battle may be over the voters’ list itself. Party officials in San Ignacio and Santa Elena claim names that a magistrate ordered removed remained on the list and were later used to vote. They are also raising concerns about ballot secrecy after reviewing video from polling stations during the 2025 general election. With municipal elections approaching, the UDP wants the Elections and Boundaries Department to explain what happened and guarantee that the same problems will not follow voters back to the polls. Shane Williams reports.
Shane Williams, Reporting
For the UDP Seven team, the fight to retain San Ignacio and Santa Elena begins long before election day. Its concerns center largely on Polling Area Seventy-three, which Mayor Earl Trapp says accounts for roughly half of the municipality’s voters. Attorney Darrel Bradley has now written Chief Elections Officer Josephine Tamai, formally outlining complaints about voter transfers, disputed registrations and the administration of elections in the twin towns.
Earl Trapp
Earl Trapp, Mayor, San Ignacio and Santa Elena
“We spoke to… retracted that application of transfers.”
Disputes over voter registrations are not new, but UDP officials say their concerns in Cayo carry the weight of a court ruling. Before the 2025 general election, former Cayo North Area Representative Dr. Omar Figueroa challenged hundreds of names on the list. A magistrate ordered roughly two dozen names removed, while more than one hundred others became the subject of a stated case. Figueroa claims those names remained on the roll and that many of those voters later cast ballots.
Dr. Omar Figueroa
Dr. Omar Figueroa, Former Area Representative, Cayo North
“The magistrate did rule that I think it was 23 or 24 names should have been struck off from the list, and then I think 101 names were case stated. All those names are still on the list, and a significant majority actually voted in the last general elections.”
The UDP argues that the issue demands a clear answer: if the court ordered names removed, why did they remain on the voters’ list? Figueroa says the party received legal advice suggesting that the department may have failed to comply with the order, although he says Mayor Trapp is still considering what legal action, if any, should follow.
Dr. Omar Figueroa
“The legal advice that, um, that we got, um, Mayor Trapp and I, was that essentially Election and Boundaries were in contempt of a court order, and that’s a serious offense, right? But, um, I’m not sure what, um, the next steps will be in regard to, to Mayor Trapp and the legal advice he’s, he’s getting on it.”
UDP campaign manager Alberto August served on the Elections and Boundaries Commission during the last general election. He says he repeatedly raised the disputed names and proposed changes to the Representation of the People Act, but his concerns went nowhere.
Alberto August, UDP Campaign Manager, San Ignacio
“It was something that I repeatedly brought to their attention over and over again, but to no avail. To no avail. There are several areas where I’d suggested some changes to the Representation of the People Act, but to no avail. It goes nowhere. It’s like you’re knocking your head against a wall.”
Chief Elections Officer Josephine Tamai, however, says the department cannot remove the disputed names while the matter remains before the courts. She says an appeal was filed in the High Court, and the department must await that outcome before taking further action.
“There was an appeal filed at the High Court and therefore the matter is before the court. The Elections and Boundaries Department can only act based on the outcome of that appeal. I cannot comment further as we await the decision of the court.”
But the voters’ list is only part of the UDP’s complaint. The party is also questioning whether every voter in Cayo North cast a truly secret ballot. It provided video from Polling Area Seventy-three that it says shows political operatives standing with voters as they marked their ballots. August argues that election law allows assistance for incapacitated voters under specific conditions, but claims able-bodied electors also received help inside polling stations.
Alberto August
“The law accommodates persons who are incapacitated. Two forms of incapacitation. A person who is incapacitated and is accompanied by somebody, then both of them go and vote. But when there’s an incapacitation and that person is not accompanied by someone, then the law requires for the presiding officer to ask that elector who in the room he or she wants to accompany him or her to vote. But in these last elections, especially in the Cayo constituencies, we saw where able-bodied people, in one instance, a police officer.”
For the UDP, this is no longer just a dispute over what happened during the 2025 general election. It is now a test of whether election officials can resolve the questions surrounding the voters’ list and ballot secrecy before the twin towns vote again. With San Ignacio and Santa Elena standing as the opposition’s only municipal stronghold, the party says it wants more than assurances. It wants clear rules, equal enforcement and a process voters can trust. Shane Williams for News Five.
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