Mother of all elections got off to a slow start

Governor Drs. Eugene Holiday (left) speaks with the chairman of the Central Voting Bureau Jason Rogers (center) while Justice Minister Edson Kirindongo is an interested listener. Photo Today / Milton Pieters

GREAT BAY – After all the hoopla in the run-up to Election Day, the mother of all elections got off to a slow start, showing that the electorate does not care about the advice to use the morning hours to cast their vote. Turnout was disappointing: 65.4 percent versus 70 percent two years ago.

The polls opened at 8 a.m. and at 9 a.m. there were four polling stations that had not seen a single voter: the St. Maarten Senior Citizens Recreational Center in Hope Estate, the Dutch Quarter Community Center, the Rupert I. Maynard Community Center and the Raoul Illidge Sports Complex.

The Sundial School recorded the highest number of voters during the first hour – 155, followed by the Methodist Agogic Center (145) and the Melford Hazel Sports and Recreational Center on Pond Island (144).
At noon 5,094 of the 22,302 eligible voters had cast their vote and at 2 p.m., the number had gone up to 7,074 – a turnout at that moment of 31.7 percent.

The top-three polling stations at 2 p.m. were the Raoul Illidge Sports Complex with 503 votes, followed by Milton Peters College (498) and the St. Maarten academy (489).

In the Pointe Blanche prison there are, just like two years ago, 67 eligible voters. By 2 p.m. 30 of them had cast their vote. In the 2014 elections, 48 inmates voted for the UP after allegedly being bribed by then UP-candidate Silvio Matser.

At the St. Maarten Home 33 of the 66 eligible voters had cast their vote at 2 p.m.

The largest polling station in these elections is the St. Maarten Academy that accommodated the maximum of 1,500 voters. The smallest polling stations are the St. Maarten Home (66), the Pointe Blanche prison (67) and the police academy on Mount William Hill (397 voters).
At 3 p.m. voter turnout had ticked up by another thousand to 8,222 (36.7 percent), at 4 p.m. it stood, with 9,423 votes cast at 42.3 percent and at 5 p.m. it reached 48.5 percent with 10,808 votes cast.

Compared to 2014, when voter turnout reached 70 percent (compared to the low 63.2 percent in 2010), slight fewer voters had visited a polling station by 5 p.m. (10,808 vs. 10,865); in percentages 2010 beat this year by 55.4 to 48.5.
Two years ago the turnout at 5 p.m. was 10,274 (47.9 percent) but because the polling station remained open longer than in 2010, turnout reached in the end 70 percent.

At 6 p.m., 421 more voters than in 2014 had gone to the polls, but the total of 12,113 represented a slighter lower percentage (54.3 vs. 54.6 percent).

Interestingly, at the Pointe Blanche prison, practically all eligible voters had cast their vote in 2014 at 6 p.m.: 65 out of 68. This time, only 37 inmates had cast their vote by that time, and the number remained unchanged at 7 p.m., suggesting that the incentive that was made available in 2014 – $100 for a vote on the UP – is no longer there.

Turnout at 7 p.m. was exactly on a par with 2014: 60.9 percent; with 13,578 votes, the real number outpaces 2014 by 529.
But while it looked like the turnout would hit the 70 percent like two years ago, the final result was a disappointment. With 14,582 votes cast, turnout was a disappointing 65.4 percent. The quota to win one seat is 972.

In the early morning hours the police had to intervene at the polling station in the Belvedere Community Center because supporters of the United People’s party, Etienne Toochie Meyers among them, were too close to the entrance to the polling station. The police ordered Meyers to move his truck that was parked right next to the entrance.

However, the 200-meter rule Minister Kirindongo initially established was not in the latest election protocol. It only prohibits the presence of people “in front of or on the grounds and/or surrounding area of the polling station.”

That rule turned out to be flexible. UP-supporters were no more than twenty meters from the entrance of the polling station in Belvedere, while Benjamin Kelly, a candidate for the United St. Maarten party, was a bit further away across the road.

Governor Drs. Eugène Holiday visited the polling station in Belvedere in the morning in the company of Justice Minister Edson Kirindongo. When they left, we asked Minister Kirindongo whether he was going to pay the pro bono attorneys that are still on strike. “Of course,” Kirindongo said. “That is a rhetorical question.”

At the Raoul Illidge Sport complex we found DP-advisor Jim Rosen sitting under a rainbow-colored umbrella together with DP-candidate Marvio Cooks. They shared their shadow peacefully with UP-supporters but they, too, were positioned right at the entrance to the polling station.

Several parties deployed buses to transport voters to their polling stations. We saw at least one bus from the USp and Jim Rosen told us that Minister Emil Lee was driving a bus for the Democratic Party.

In Cul-de-Sac NA-candidate Cedric Peterson was along the road distributing the last of his party tee shirts, while UP-candidate Cornelius de Weever hung out just outside the polling station at the St. Maarten Academy.

Prime Minister William Marlin cast his vote at 12.15 p.m. at the Milton Peters College together with his family. The National Alliance leader was optimistic about the outcome: “I am confident that voters will give the National Alliance a victory so that we can continue with the work we started nine months ago and so that this government will be there for the next four years.”

Elsewhere in Philipsburg, UP-leader Theo Heyliger was equally confident in the outcome of the elections. With the turnout on a par with 2014, he said, “I am looking forward to a good majority; I think that we will be the biggest party for sure.”

Members of the main voting bureau arrives to inspect the polling station at Milton Peters College. Photo Today / Milton Pieters