PHILIPSBURG – St. Maarten will once again have another coalition government after a low turnout plagued Election Day Monday, September 26.
The National Alliance (NA) and United People’s (UP) Party came out on top with five seats each; not enough for either party to gain the majority to form the government.
At the end of the final preliminary count in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, September 27, OSPP got 204 votes; UP 4,127; USP 2,796, SDM 603, SMCP 856, HOPE 75, PPA 229, DP 1,810 and NA obtained 3,763 votes. The results mean that the UP received five seats, the NA five, the USP three and DP two seats.
The voter turnout was lower than in the 2014 election. Of the 22,302, only 13,068 voted; a voter turnout of about 60%. This is quite telling for the political parties and the Parliament of St. Maarten as it represents a decline of about 10%. It is left to be seen what the political construct will be in the next few weeks as the parties look to form the next government of St. Maarten.
The number of voters that turned out to the 20 polling stations are as follows: at the John Larmonie Center 637 voters; Sundial School 769; St. Maarten Senior Citizen and Recreational Center 909; Sister Marie Laurence School 906; Dutch Quarter Community Center 958; MPC 999; Rupert Maynard Center 857; St. Maarten Academy 1,019; Celebration Palace 840; Raoul Illidge Sports Complex 881; Charles Leopold School 769; Leonard Conner School 492; Simpson Bay Community Center 562; Belvedere Community Center 987; Melford Hazel Sports and Recreational Center 1,188; MAC 805; Justice Academy 254; Seventh Day Adventist School 571; House of Detention 35; and the St. Martin Home 47.
For the official result visit: http://www.sintmaartengov.org/special-campaigns/Parliamentary-Elections/2016/Pages/Parliamentary-Elections-2014-Hourly-Results.aspx
