Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
PHILIPSBURG--Members of Parliament (MPs) will discuss alleged discrepancies in the August 29, 2014, parliamentary elections during a meeting of the Central Committee of Parliament on Wednesday, April 8, at 10:00am.
The meeting was requested by MPs Leona Marlin-Romeo and Cornelius de Weever (both independent) and Tamara Leonard (United People's Party) in correspondence dated November 6 and 7, 2014.
Main Voting Bureau and Civil Registry Department representatives will be present to discuss alleged discrepancies that occurred in preparation of and during the August 29 parliamentary elections. Minister of General Affairs Marcel Gumbs also will be present for the session.
According to a press release, the alleged discrepancies identified were at the polling station at the Pointe Blanche Prison; use of foreign identification to vote; discrepancies in ballot counting at specific polling stations; discrepancies regarding lack of privacy during the supporting of the candidate lists; and discrepancies in the information given to political parties regarding placement of campaign material.
Other points to be raised include changes in the Electoral Law; increase in the number of polling stations in 2014 in comparison to 2010; implementation of electronic voting; possible articles that conflict with each other; and whether any articles are wrongly written.
The public can watch the deliberations in person at the House of Parliament across from the Courthouse in Philipsburg. The session will be carried live on St. Maarten Cable TV Channel 120, Pearl Radio 98.1FM,
www.pearlfmradio.com and
www.sxmparliament.org .
