7 News Belize

Derrick Aikman To Conduct Poll For Undecided Voters
posted (February 15, 2012)
And one man who's been on a political vacation is Derek Aikman. He flashed across the public stage in 2008 - and then after he claimed that he was kidnapped, the former Freetown Area Representative again slipped into the shadows.

Well, now, he's back, and this time he has a plan to execute a national poll.

It's a bit involved - but it happens on Friday, by phone - where 500 voters from across the country will be called and asked who they think will win the next election.

At a press conference today, Aikman explained that the reason he chose to spearhead the poll is because of the great number of undecided voters:

Derrick Aikman - President/CEO, Aikman and Aikman
"What I'm targeting here is voters' decision 2012 because if people are disillusioned, as they seem to be - the polls that have been done thus far are telling you that 40+% of the electorate is confused - don't know what to do and how to vote. On Friday, which is Nomination Day for the General Elections, Aikman and Aikman will be conducting an election on that day. We are going to conduct an election in 31 constituencies in this country. Polls will open at 7 o'clock in the morning. Polls will close at 6 o'clock in the evening, and when the results are in - and I will share with you how we are going to do it - you can take the results of this election to the bank, that when the final tally is made on Friday night - I would imagine somewhere around 8 to 9 o'clock - we have the result of an election just as had the election taken place on Nomination Day. This is the party - or this is what would have formed the government. So, at 8 o'clock on Friday night, for the first time in the history of Belize, not only will people have nominated their candidates, but they will know that if the election was held that same day when the candidates put their names on the ballots, you will have what this election would have been had that been a real general election morning on Friday. And, let the chips fall where they may. And the prompting to the voter - from where we stand - is if you would have been unhappy with the results that you hear on Friday night, and you were a part of that 40+%, who didn't know what to do, and was planning maybe not to do anything, at least you have 3 weeks until March 7 to hopefully change your mind and participate on election day to try and influence an outcome that happened on Friday night, if that was not the outcome that you would want to govern your country on March 7."

The election-slash-poll will be held at St. Mary's Hall, and he expects each political party to provide scrutineers.

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