A voter casts his ballot in Hotel de la Collectivité, polling station number one, on Saturday. (Robert Luckock photo)
MARIGOT--Two of the eight candidates contesting the Legislative Election to elect the Member of Parliament (Député) for the constituency of St. Martin and Saint-Barthélemy will be heading to a second round on Saturday, July 6, with their respective substitutes (suppléants).
They are outgoing Député Frantz Gumbs and Alexandra Questel from St. Barths, both having obtained the highest number of votes to contest the run-off.
The final definitive results were confirmed by the Préfecture’s Vote-Counting Commission on Monday, following Saturday’s day of voting on the two islands. The Northern islands were voting one day ahead of mainland France.
No candidate obtained the absolute majority of votes cast required to be elected in the first round. A second ballot will therefore be held on Saturday, July 6, 2024. Pursuant to Article L. 162 of the Electoral Code, the two candidates with the highest number of votes may stand in the second round. They are, in the order of drawing lots: Questel and Gumbs.
The breakdown of how many votes each candidate obtained were as follows: Gumbs 2,867 (41.44%), Questel 1,378 (19.92%), Philippe Philidor 1,170 (16.91%), Clément Chapdelaine 680 (9.83%), Ricardo Bethel 399 (5.77%), Hervé Meunier 230 (3.32%), Lila Krimi 102 (1.47%), and Diane Félix 93 (1.34%).
The number of persons registered on the electoral roll was 25,227. The number of voters who participated was 7,232 (or 28.67% of registered voters). Actual votes cast were 6,919 with 213 blank votes and 100 invalid.
The participation rate throughout Saturday was as follows: 12:00pm (7.83%), 2:30pm (16.58%,) and at 4:15pm 20.28%. Some 19 polling stations were open from 8:00am to 6:00pm continuously. In St. Barths, 2,147 persons voted, a participation of 40.84%.
