Turnout falls behind 2016

Philipsburg – Voters showed an appetite for the elections during the first hour after the polls opened on Monday at 8 a.m. but in the next two hours turnout slowed down.

At 9 a.m. 1,853 voters had cast their vote, well above the 1,331 that did so in 2016. This difference of 39.2 percent seemed to indicate a large turnout, but that idea had to be put to rest in the next two hours.

At 10 a.m. the turnout was 2,748 – 170 voters or 5.8 percent behind 2016.

An hour later turnout fell further behind with a total of 3,659 – 381 or 9.4 percent behind 2016. At noon the gap with 2016 narrowed slightly percentage wise but it increased in absolute numbers: 4,666 versus 5,04 – a shortfall of 428, or 8.34 percent.

Shortly after Governor Drs. Eugene Holiday paid a visit to the polling station at Hope Estate, UD-leader Theo Heyliger made an appearance to cast his vote.

Confronted with the disappointing turnout during the first hours, Heyliger said that his party needs a large turnout for a good result.

“Kick-starting the economy and housing are my priorities for the next couple of years,” Heyliger said

He acknowledged that, in case the UD does not win an outright majority, the options in terms of coalition partners will be limited. “But I won’ t exclude anyone beforehand, though with some it will take harder swallowing than with others. On the other hand I would not want the formation of a new government to turn into a long process.”

Photo caption: United Democrats (UD) leader, Theo Heyliger, casting his vote at the Hope Estate polling station in Lower Princess Quarter. Photo by Hilbert Haar.

Above photo caption: Governor Drs. Eugene B. Holiday exiting the polling station at the Hope Estate in Lower Princess Quarter. Photo by Hillbert Haar.

Top photo caption: Voter turnout as of 2pm this afternoon Monday, February 26th, 2018, putting the turnout of 6614 voters 460 below the 2016 turnout of 7074.

[Click on data sheets to enlarge for further detail.]