Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
~All UPP candidates complied~
PHILIPSBURG – With only three days left for candidates to submit donation registrations, more than half of the candidates have not yet submitted their donation registration to the Electoral Council.
Last Friday, October 21, the Electoral Council requested the representatives of the political parties to urge all candidates, who contested the 2016 parliamentary elections to submit their donation registrations to the Electoral Council no later than Wednesday, October 26, in order to ensure compliance with the National Ordinance on Registration and Finances of Political Parties.
To date, the United People’s party (UPP) is the only party which submitted donation registrations of all candidates. This was done on October 19.
The Electoral Council would like to again remind all candidates who have not yet submitted their donation registrations, that Wednesday, October 26, is the final date to do so. Also the candidates who did not receive any donations must complete the form, date, sign, and submit it to the Electoral Council by this date.
In order to accommodate candidates with the submission of their donation registrations before the deadline, the Electoral Council will extend its office hours and will be open from Monday, October 24, until Wednesday, October 26, from 9:00am to 5:30pm.
Candidates are reminded that the Electoral Council is not responsible for completing the registrations and should therefore not expect such. Candidates who have trouble completing the form digitally should contact their parties for assistance.
Non-compliant candidates are informed that sanctions for non-compliance of the National Ordinance, will include the publication of their names in all mass media. Elected members to Parliament are reminded that they will not be able to take the oath of office to assume their position in Parliament if they fail to comply with the law.
The Electoral Council will also consider giving an order subject to penalty to enforce compliance as laid down in Article 33 and 37, Subsection 2 of the National Ordinance.
Candidates who did not receive the email with instructions on how to access the database in order to complete their donation registration digitally, should contact the Electoral Council office on Backstreet 145b as soon as possible, or by telephone numbers 543-9888 and 543-9889 or by email-address: info@ecsxm.org.
