This evening, the media spoke with the chief elections officer who told us that everything is in its right place for the voter to have a glitch free experience:..

Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer
"In terms of logistics, tomorrow is the 4th March and tomorrow we have 9 municipalities going into municipal elections. I can say that the Election and Boundaries Department - we are ready for elections. All elections material has been distributed countrywide. Actually, we are just waiting for tomorrow. For tomorrow, we have the 9 municipalities; we have 2 cities and 7 towns going into the elections. The total number of registered voters for the entire country of Belize in terms of municipality is 105,634 registered voters."

"I want to encourage all persons who are registered to come out and vote on election day. Come out and cast your ballots very early, so that you don't get into the rush. I also want to advise the public that it's not mandatory that you take your voters ID card for you to vote. We take other forms of identification card as well, but the process will take a little bit longer if you don't take your voters identification card. Because at that point the presiding officer will need to ask you questions or establish that you are indeed that person who is there."

And so while that is what's going to happen for the election day - what most of us want to know is when we'll hear the first results. Typically, smaller towns like Punta Gorda come in first, but Belize City, with its ten divisions being counted individually could be even faster than that! Tamai was conservative in her projection of when you can expect to hear the first out-turns:..

Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer
"It will vary according to municipality, because we have like I mentioned in terms of Belize City, which is the largest in comparison to Punta Gorda, which is the smallest. For the smaller ones, the results should be out pretty quickly, but again, in terms of the number of candidates, because like I said, in terms of the splits, things have changed from over the past."

And while politicians and the public will be waiting eagerly for those results - tomorrow, the voters will have to navigate a political minefield. Both mass parties intend to smother every inch of available surface area with political signage. But what does this mean for that hundred yard barrier - the area within which the voter should be free from harassment, and political messaging? Well, in recent elections, it seems that it's becoming harder to govern what should be an inviolable space. Today Tamai said that the returning officers and police should make sure no political mischief occurs - but there's only so much they can do:..

Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer
"In terms of the 100 yards line, the law requires that we maintain the 100 yards line. And we know that no campaigning or anything of that sort within that 100 yards line. So, what I will say is that the returning officers are the persons who are responsible to ensure that that 100 yards line is maintained. Anything outside of that 100 yards line is the responsibility of the police officers, to ensure that they deal with whatever situation that may arise outside of the 100 yards line. In some instances, yes the law states about 100 yards. But in some instances because of the location of the 100 yards line, it might fall within somebody's private property, so you are limited in certain areas depending on where the 100 yards line lies."

And, finally, the Chief addressed the issue raised by the Opposition PUP. They objected to the way the count for the Belize City council will be managed. In the past all the ballot boxes would be taken to the ITVET building where there would be a mass count. But, this year, as in 2009, the boxes will be counted at the polling station - making for a quicker count. But the PUP says it is illegal because the returning officer Hugo Miranda should personally unseal the boxes and directly oversee the counting. Today the Chief elections officer said the PUP never made any objection when her office sent out the notice in mid-February.

Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer
"I have responded to a letter written by the People's United Party on the 9th February, raising some of the same concerns that I believe you are referring to, where those issues were addressed, in addition to other issues. So, before anybody to say that we did not consult, we just went ahead and made the decision and I will also go further and tell you that on the 17th February to the parties, we submitted the list of polling and counting stations and nobody gave any feedback, gave any comment to say I do not agree with this or agree with that. By law, we have to publish our stations. So, not hearing from them, we have to take it as if though they are in agreement. Because like I said, we have deadlines in terms of meeting newspapers, in terms of doing anything."

Presently, the UDP controls six out of 9 municipalities. The last time an opposition faced a two-term government in 2006 - they swept the municipals.