UDP Cayo Makes Case Against 114 More Illegal Registrations

The battle over Cayo North’s voter list is far from over. While a recent court ruling resulted in twenty-three names being removed from the electoral register, the U.D.P. argues the issue goes much deeper. Executive member Alberto August says more than a hundred names were challenged, including eighty voters who, he claims, were never properly approved by the revising officer but were still allowed onto the list and ultimately voted in the 2025 general election. August explains their arguments before Magistrate Sashawna Thompson today in the San Ignacio Magistrates Court.

 

Alberto August, Executive Member, UDP Cayo

“We ended up with 137 names that we were objecting to at revision court. Now, of those 137 names, we had categorized it under three areas of objection. One, there were 23 names that the magistrate, the previous magistrate ventilated, was ventilated before that magistrate, and she determined that those 23 persons are supposed to be struck off the list. Those 23 names were presented for revision court in 2024. Well, we had, we had over 100 names for revision court in 2023, but of those over 100 names, the magistrate determined that 23 of them were disqualified from going on to the Cayo North list, and they were ins- they were struck off the list for revision court, 9th of December 2024. After the magistrate reviewed that, and it was ventilated in court, the magistrate came to the determination that eighty names were supposed to – she was on the verge of striking them off the list when the defense counsel informed the court that he was stating the case on the grounds that the magistrate had gone beyond the legal date required to hear these Submission. On the basis of that, it simply means that she, and the registering officer confirmed in court, that the magistrate did not sign those eighty persons onto the list. For all intents and purposes, those persons who the magistrate had in abeyance in terms of the case stated because the higher court had not made a determination, they should have voted from where they came from. But the elections and boundaries department placed them without the authority of the pre- of the revising officer, without the authority of the magistrate, placed them on the Cayo North list and these people voted in the March 2025 general elections.”

 

UDP Takes Voters List Fight To Supreme Court After Setback

 

The fight over Cayo North’s voters list is heading for another round, this time in the Supreme Court. After securing the removal of twenty-three names, the U.D.P. has suffered a setback, with Magistrate Sashawna Thompson ruling that 114 other challenged voters should remain on the register. But the party is not accepting that decision quietly and plans to appeal. U.D.P. executive member Alberto August argues that some voters were improperly registered, casting doubt about the integrity of the electoral process in Cayo North.

 

Alberto August, Executive Member, UDP Cayo

“We had a third case where we were going, now these were new 38 new applicants that we were going to go through the whole proceedings of ventilating through the court and going through the procedure of attempting to prove to the court that these 38 persons have never lived at the location where they are intend- where they are registered. The case stated 76 persons, and these 38 persons were combined into one, and the magistrate heard them as one, when in fact there was two different categories of objection. All we were asking for in the second category is for the magistrate to make a determination in terms of where these people go. Because the previous magistrate had basically all but said that they should not go on the list. Basically, the magistrate was able to confirm that the 23 names for annual revision last year, 2024, should have been taken off the list, and they were taken off. Now, for these two sets that were combined, like I said, the 113 I believe it was 76 and 38, 114 names, then she ordered for them to stay on the list. Counsel has informed the magistrate that he will appeal, that he will appeal the decision, especially in terms of the 76 persons, especially in terms of the succe- what the lower court did in terms of those 76 persons was to make a decision for the higher court that was never, that never went through. We are of the opinion that especially the Cayo North constituency, our democracy is at risk. Never ever before in all the electoral history of this country in a period of two months transfer have you had almost 1,000 people, almost 1,000 people being moved. Unprecedented.”

 

Attorney Darrel Bradley wrote Chief Elections Officer Josephine Tamai on behalf of mayor Earl Trapp in September, complaining not only about registration irregularities in Cayo North but also illegal activities inside the polling station.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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