22,559 eligible voters for February elections

PHILIPSBURG – The voters registry for the February 26 elections closed on December 6; it contains the names of 22,559 eligible voters. If the turnout for the elections is similar to that of the 2016 elections (63.7 percent), there would be 14,370 valid votes. To win a seat then requires 958 votes; in 2016 this quota was 947.

Prime Minister Rafael Boasman said on Wednesday that the number of eligible voters is still subject to change because citizens can still challenge the absence of their names in the registry in court.

Nomination Day is on January 5; the following day is Endorsement Day, when parties that currently do not have representation in Parliament have to submit a list to the Central Voting Bureau with the signatures of at least 142 voters who support their list. This number represents 1 percent of the valid votes cast in the previous elections.

The Central Voting Bureau will host Endorsement Day at the Parliament building from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The container holding the equipment for the elections was destroyed during Hurricane Irma on September 6. The Central Voting Bureau named this issue as a concern for holding elections in early January.

Minster Boasman said that new election paraphernalia have been ordered and that the material is expected to arrive on the island by the end of January.

The post office will not play a central role in the distribution of voting cards this time around. Instead, Minister Boasman said that the Central Voting Bureau would establish sub-bureaus in the districts where voters can pick up their cards. “The cards that are left will be distributed by the post office but voters can still obtain a voting card on the last day, even on Election Day, from the Census Office.”