For those who may not yet know, St. Maarten-born voters will be in the minority (see Thursday newspaper) when the country returns to the polls on August 19. It regards 8,805 of in total 22,447, while 12,273 are from one of the six Dutch Caribbean islands.
Another 1,116 were born in the Netherlands. That leaves 9,958 from what can be considered “abroad,” although Guadeloupe (1,855) being the largest group among them obviously has to to do with the French side of the island, of which no separate mention was made.
Mind you, these are all people with Dutch citizenship, which says nothing about other foreign residents, both legal and undocumented. To speak of a multi-cultural society is thus an understatement.
Some have suggested including those who prefer to apply for permanent residency – often so they can keep their own nationality – in the election process as is already being done at a municipal level in the Netherlands. The reasoning is that after living on the island lawfully for five years they have a vested interest in the governing of their new home.
An argument can also be made for lowering the voting age to 16 in terms of shaping the local youth’s future. However, up to now one is considered adult when 18, which is also the current drinking age.
There are only 167 voters more than in January, so if the turnout is comparable the number of votes needed for one of the 15 parliamentary seats will be similar. As usual, a party needs to earn the first one outright to qualify for any possible residual seat, so next month that will be the first threshold to overcome.
