Invalid votes continue to be an issue in St. Maarten. Early indications during Thursday’s elections suggested much fewer than before, but the number had jumped to 188 by the end of the night and even 249 (see Monday newspaper) when the full preliminary result was sent out Friday morning.
That figure is still way below the 402 of 2020, but remains too high. An extensive awareness campaign had even taken place back then via local media in an attempt to educate the electorate on how to correctly vote.
People not only did so for more than one candidate, but incorrectly used the red pencil to colour the dot of their choice, wrote names or messages on the ballot, etcetera.
It will be interesting to see what happens in this regard at today’s public Central Voting Bureau meeting where the political parties can submit objections and request recounts of single or all polls, which the bureau is authorised to conduct on its own initiative as well. In the recent past this process led to considerable shifts in the numbers and even a seat going to someone else – on the same list – based on personal votes.
While that’s not to be expected this time around looking at individual totals, one never knows. Very unlikely is a change in the seat division per party, which potentially could affect the newly-formed URSM/DP/PFP/NOW coalition with its minimal majority in Parliament.
On a positive note, it appears most parties and candidates did not need the Justice Ministry’s reminder in today’s paper to remove their roadside campaign materials within 48 hours after Election Day. In the old days the term was up to eight days and many still failed to comply.
One small election tip going forward: The voting card is in Dutch, as is the printed text on the envelope in which it comes. Although Dutch is the country’s official language, so is English.
One can argue that voters are Dutch citizens and as such should know the language, but this is simply not always the case and related requirements for naturalisation were not as extensive in the past. English is the predominantly-spoken language and adding “voting card” on at least the envelope even if with stamps might be a helpful gesture.
