Marigot:--- Electors on French St. Martin are currently casting their ballots at the various polling stations throughout the French side of the island. Early predictions show that there will be a higher voter's turn this year.However, voters are getting tired of waiting since the procedure at several of the polling stations are moving extremely slow. Critics say that the slowness at the polling stations is due to the fact that the Presidents of the polling stations are new and this is the first time they are participating in an election. A territorial councilor at one of the bureaus said that the Collectivity chose the first 13 elected officials to be the presidents of the bureaus while the other councilors are substitute. "You will find Daniel Gibbs and Marthe Ogoundele Tessi both persons who are contesting the elections on separate lists are presiding at different bureaus. The incumbent President Frantz Gumbs was seen manning bureau number one while senator Louis Constant Fleming was the Collectivité securing his voters as they enter. Some voters in French Quarter were overheard saying they are ready to quit the lines. There were long lines at bureaus 12 and 13 in French Quarter while Friars Bay and Nina Duverly School also had very long lines there too. If the procedure continues to be slow it is likely that many people might not get the opportunity to cast their ballots and it will take much longer to get the results tonight. At noon today, there were 3256 votes already casts.
SMN News will be bringing you the results live tonight.
Click here to view photos of March 18th Election Process.