belize election results 2012

In the States, you always hear that every vote is important, make sure to vote!  but it's hard to believe that one vote means that much.  Belize's elections are different.  The political system is based on the England's, so instead of voting directly for the prime minister, people vote for their local representative.  There are 31 spots for representatives, and the party with the most representatives gets it's party leader as prime minister (the party leader is selected by high up party members, not the people).  This year the UDP (who was the party in power) won 17 representative spots, and the PUP won 14.  One UDP candidate won by 17 votes.  In addition, voter turnout was low.... I think most likely because it rained all day (Seriously. Belizeans across the board hate going out in the rain). Who knows what the results would have been if it was sunny :)  We will have to see if anything changes because of the almost- split results.  The prime minister here has tons of power, but now with so many opposition members as representatives, I think things will be a little less easy for him.  It is an interesting time politically for this small country-- issues such as legalization of homosexuality, offshore drilling for oil, institution of trials without a jury, and nationalization of companies owned by foreign investors are some of the bigger current issues.   The next few years should be quite interesting...