It looks like St. Maarten may be going to the polls without dark curtains that normally cover the entrance of voting booths (see Friday/Saturday edition) in January, although an exact date is yet to be announced. Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs told Parliament the Council of Ministers has amended the electoral decree (“kiesbesluit”), but the bill’s trajectory with signatures being sent on to the governor by National Decree Containing General Measures (“LB Ham”) still needs to be finalised.
The idea is to prevent people from taking photos of their filled-in ballot with electronic devices that can be used as invoice to sell votes. Because the voters’ backs are to the entrance while marking a circle of the politician they choose, this change supposedly does not infringe upon the secrecy of their vote.
Plenty of reason exists to be concerned about local vote-buying, as there were several related convictions even involving police officers and the prison in the recent past. Using mobiles inside voting booths is prohibited, but with no way to enforce the rule short of temporarily taking these from voters, getting rid of the curtains indeed seems like a practical solution.
One obviously needs to make sure the other three sides of the booths are well-covered. In addition, election officials and authorities present should keep a close eye to see others don’t try to peek at voters exercising their confidential democratic right and civic duty.
Dummy ballots are another risk factor, as these have been used in “Bulgarian Train” schemes to sell votes abroad and also ended up in the ballot count here. The prime minister said she would love to hear the Members of Parliament (MPs) on eliminating those and “just having the possibility for the parties to use large documents to educate voters,” but whether that leads to something tangible anytime soon remains to be seen.
The same can be said about talk to repeal the so-called Lynch Law stipulating that candidates with the most personal votes are elected, rather than according to their position on the ballot as used to be the case. It is argued that this led to weakened political organisations with less control over who represents them in public office, individualistic politics, even “list-shopping” over the years.
So, while removing the curtains – if it happens – is certainly a start, don’t hold your breath expecting much more in terms of electoral reform before going to the polls.
