New Ballot Boxes for Country's First Parliamentary Elections
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Central Voting Bureau along with representatives of the Civil Registry outlined some of the guidelines that are in place for the country's first Parliamentary Elections set for August 29th, 2014.
Chairman of the Central Voting Bureau Jason Rogers told members of the media on Thursday that this year there are new ballot boxes which is a "garbage bin" equipped with a lock and open space on top for voters to cast their votes. Tamara Richardson of the Civil Registry said St. Maarten chose to change the ballot boxes for health and other reasons. She said the older ballot boxes were heavy. When asked why they chose to use a garbage bins, Richardson said that is what is used in the Netherlands and since the electoral ordinance is more like a copy of the electoral ordinance of the Netherlands they chose to use the same type of ballot boxes. Furthermore it is more affordable for St. Maarten.
Rogers further explained that based on the electoral ordinance, they had to create four more polling districts because the law states that no more than 1, 500 persons could vote at any district. He said there are some 21,457 registered voters on St. Maarten and he is urging every voter to go out on August 29th and exercise their right to vote. Employees who cannot vote prior to their working hours are entitled to two hours to vote.
There is no law in the Electoral Ordinance that regulates the sale of alcohol on Election Day, Rogers said when he was asked. The police is expected to control traffic on Election Day. Rogers said they have been working closely with all stakeholders in order to have a smooth and fair election. Several questions regarding public safety and how police intend to apply the rules when it comes to the 48 hours reflection time given by the Minister of Justice could not be answered because Commissioner of Police Carl John did not show up to the meeting to provide the necessary information on Thursday.
Voting Cards
Both Rogers and Tamara Richardson from the Civil Registry said that the Post Office is busy distributing the voting cards starting since Monday August 11th. Richardson said that the law states that the Civil Registry must include a dummy ballot with the voting cards to make the voters aware of what the ballots would look like on Election Day. Richardson said the Civil Registry had to wait until the colors were given to the six political parties that are contesting the elections before they could have printed the dummy ballots. "Basically the dummy ballots held up the distribution of the voting cards." Richardson said voters must receive their voting cards at least eight days before Election Day (August 21st) anyone who does not receive their voting card by that day should check with the civil registry to pick up their voting cards.
Political parties also have the dummy ballots to show their supporters how to vote, Rogers said. Members of the Civil Registry explained the procedures on how the voting will take place on August 29th. Voters must enter the polling station with their voting cards and Identification Cards in order to vote, at the polling station the persons selected to work in the polling stations will verify if the person is eligible to vote in that district. If they are then they will be given a ballot and red pencil to circle one white spot beside the name of the candidate they are voting for. Voters cannot use nothing but the "red pencil" that is provided to them, they are not allowed to write or scratch the ballots. Those persons that violate the rules will make their vote "invalid".
Polling stations will be open from 8am to 8pm on Election Day, also new this Election Day no political paraphernalia will be allowed in close proximity of the polling stations on Election Day. Rogers could not say exactly what is meant by close proximity because that he said is not stipulated in the law but they will be depending on the police to execute and ensure that public order is fully maintained. Politicians and their supporters will also not be allowed in polling stations to influence voters however they could be outside, but that too Rogers could not say how far away politicians and their supporters have to be from the polling stations. Live coverage of the results will begin at 7pm at the Government Administration Building. AVS News has teamed up with DCOMM to carry the coverage live both on Television and the Internet.
Click here to view photos on how to vote on Election Day.