Chairperson of the Central Voting Bureau Nathalie Tackling (third left) announcing the final election results at the House of Parliament on Thursday while members of the Bureau look on.
~ New Parliament to sit Feb. 10 ~
PHILIPSBURG--Six of the eight political parties that contested the January 11 parliamentary elections dropped in votes after a total recount conducted by the Central Voting Bureau. However, the overall seat allocation and Members of Parliament (MPs)-elect remain unchanged.
Unified Resilient St. Maarten Movement (URSM) and Empire Culture Empowerment were the only political parties that ended up with more votes after the recount. ECE was up by one vote and URSM by eight.
Central Voting Bureau Chairperson Nathalie Tackling providing the final votes.After two-and-a-half days of vigorously recounting every single vote cast in the elections, Central Voting Bureau Chairperson Nathalie Tackling on Thursday announced the official final results on Thursday. According to the final results, a total of 14,443 valid votes were cast. The total voter turnout is 14,678.
Nation Opportunity Wealth (NOW) received 1,481 valid votes, seven votes fewer than the 1,488 votes received in the preliminary results.
ECE received 292 valid votes, one vote more than the 291 announced in the preliminary results.
United People’s (UP) party received 2,814 valid votes, 23 votes fewer than the 2,837 received during the preliminary count.
Party for Progress (PFP) received 1,717 valid votes, four votes fewer than the 1,721 received during the preliminary count.
United St Maarten Party (US Party) obtained 686 valid votes, three votes fewer than the 689 received during the preliminary announcement.
URSM had 2,028 valid votes, eight votes more than the 2,020 received during the preliminary count.
National Alliance (NA) obtained 3,455 valid votes, 13 votes less than the 3,468 votes received during the preliminary results.
And Democratic Party (DP) received 1,970 votes, six votes less than the 1,976 votes received during the preliminary count.
Seat allocation
Based on the final results, the NOW party remains with two seats; UP 3 seats; PFP two seats; URSM two seats; NA four seats; and DP two seats.
The MPs-elect also remain unchanged. The 15 MPs-elect are from the NOW party Christophe Emmanuel (453 votes) and Kevin Maingrette (248 votes); from the UP party Omar Ottley (774 votes), Akeem Arrindell (353 votes) and Francisco Lacroes (312 votes); from PFP Ludmila de Weever (569 votes) and Melissa Gumbs (462 votes); from URSM Dr. Luc Mercelina (702 votes) and Sjamira Roseburg (247 votes); from NA Egbert Doran (538 votes), Silveria Jacobs (467 votes),
Cloyd Ohndhae Marlin (406 votes) and Ardwell Irion (332 votes); and from DP Sarah Wescot-Williams (498 votes) and Grisha Heyliger-Marten (423 votes).
Why a total recount
Tackling, who announced the results at a press conference on Thursday afternoon, said the total recount was conducted based on the Central Voting Bureau’s own internal investigation on the minutes received from the polling stations along with tally lists coupled with the objections raised by various political parties.
The decision to do the complete recount across all polling stations was to demonstrate full transparency in the election process and do away with any doubts about the way things happened. The bureau began the counting on Tuesday and continued into Thursday, starting at 10:00am on some days and going until midnight and later on some.
Meeting with candidates
Tackling said the individuals who have been elected will receive a letter from the Central Voting Bureau and it will be up to the candidate to accept their seat in parliament. An administrative process will then start to ensure that a new Parliament takes office by February 10, when the term of the sitting parliament ends. She said all the MPs-elect can expect to get letters today. “We would like to try to have a meeting tomorrow [Friday – Ed.] afternoon to brief you on what the following steps will be and streamline the process to get everything done in time for the new term,” she said.
She said there are many moving parts that go into organising an election. The Bureau will evaluate the entire election process from Nomination Day (postulation day) to swearing-in of the new parliament, as the Bureau takes the process seriously. She said queries had been received regarding the length of time it took the preliminary results to be announced on election night and the reasons for this. “We will look into all of these and we will see how we can make improvements for the next election,” she assured.
The 66% voter turnout is higher than the last election and she looks forward to it being even higher in coming elections, as it makes the work of everyone who is part of the apparatus of democracy worth so much more when the population casts their vote.
She thanked everyone involved in the election process as well as in the total recount process, as well as those who voted, and she congratulated those elected.
