With 23,130 eligible voters (see Thursday paper) a 100 per cent turnout on January 9 would mean 1,542 votes are needed per seat. That’s obviously not going to happen, as roughly about two-thirds traditionally make use of their democratic right.
In fact, the 62 per cent turnout of the February 2018 election was the lowest in recent times. Some of that was undoubtedly related to the then-still-early recovery from Hurricane Irma, which – among other issues – created challenges with the distribution of voting cards.
Nevertheless, there has been an unmistakably downward trend, with percentages of respectively 71 in 2010, 69 in 2014 and 65 in 2016. Perhaps this also has to do with the last three all being so-called snap elections, requiring a sooner-than-normal return to the polls.
The political establishment should take this apparent growing loss of interest at heart. Asking people to take the trouble of casting their ballot every other year might be a bit much.
In 2018 fewer people even voted than two years before, namely 13,952 compared to 14,596. Since this drop was partly due to dire post-Irma circumstances, one can expect the number will go back up at least somewhat.
It therefore seems better to now use the 2016 turnout of 65 per cent as benchmark. This translates to needing 1,002 votes for one of the 15 parliamentary seats up for grabs.
The latter is important, because one must earn a first seat outright to possibly qualify for a residual one. What’s more, parties that are currently not represented in the legislature will have to show support for their candidate lists from one per cent of the last total valid vote of 13,553; in this case 135.
As stated before, all this doesn’t make things easier for newcomers trying to break through, but St. Maarten Christian Party (SMCP) proved it can be done. Besides, in achieving anything worthwhile there will always be obstacles to overcome.
