1898 Surinamese general election

Partial general elections were held in Suriname on 23 March and in April 1898 to elect three of the nine elected members of the Colonial States.

Electoral system

The Colonial States consisted of nine elected members and four appointed by the Governor-General. ^[1] Elected members served six-year terms, with three members elected every two years. The 1898 elections were to replace the three members elected in 1892, Cornelis Johannes Heylidy  [ nl ], Christiaan Hendrik van Meurs  [ nl ] and Henry Barnett  [ nl ]. Van Meurs had vacated his seat by taking a leave of absence due to ill-health, and had been replaced by Theophilius Libertador Ellis  [ nl ] in a 1894 by-election, while in 1895 Barnett was replaced by Justus Gonggrijp  [ nl ]. All three incumbents ran for re-election.

The elections were held using the two-round system, with suffrage restricted to men meeting certain criteria. Voters had multiple votes, and any candidate receiving a number of votes equivalent to over 50% of the valid ballots cast was elected in the first round. If not all seats were filled, a second round was held.

Results

As there were 328 valid ballots cast, candidates required 165 votes to be elected in the first round.

Candidate	First round		Second round		Notes
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Cornelis Johannes Heylidy  [ nl ]	221	67.38			Re-elected
Theophilius Libertador Ellis  [ nl ]	214	65.24			Re-elected
Daniel Coutinho  [ nl ]	157	47.87	210	71.67	Elected
J.O. Harken	126	38.41	83	28.33
Justus Gonggrijp  [ nl ]	113	34.45			Unseated
Richard O'Ferrall  [ nl ]	77	23.48
J.E. Aberbanel	27	8.23
W.J. van Voss	10	3.05
A.J. Jessurun	5	1.52
Karel Hendrik Bergen  [ nl ]	4	1.22
J.P.W. van Eijck	3	0.91
Reinbertus Aloisius Tammenga  [ nl ]	3	0.91
J.W. van Voss	2	0.61
J.L. Hijmans	2	0.61
J.J.P. Wessels	2	0.61
Anton Dragten  [ nl ]	1	0.30
J.H. Wijngaarde	1	0.30
A.H. Reiziger	1	0.30
M.F.A. del Prado	1	0.30
D.H. Havclaar	1	0.30
W.G. van Vos	1	0.30
J. van West	1	0.30
W. van Voss	1	0.30
H. Hubner	1	0.30
Total	975	100.00	293	100.00
Valid votes	328	99.70	293	98.99
Invalid/blank votes	1	0.30	3	1.01
Total votes	329	100.00	296	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	454	72.47
Source: Nieuwe Surinaamsche Courant, [2] De Surinamer, [3] De West-Indiër [4]

Aftermath

The Governor-General reappointed Isaac de Costa  [ nl ], Adrianus van 't Hoogerhuys  [ nl ], Salomon Matthijs Swijt  [ nl ] and Reinbertus Aloisius Tammenga  [ nl ] as nominated members. Cornelis Johannes Heylidy  [ nl ] remained chairman.

References

1. Ngo Chun Luk & Hamied Ahmadali (July 2015). "Access to Electoral Rights: Suriname" (PDF). European University Institute.
2. "Uitslag der Verkiezingen". Nieuwe Surinaamsche Courant. 27 March 1898.
3. "KOLONIALE STATEN: Uitslag der Verkiezing". De Surinamer. 27 March 1898.
4. "Paramaribo, 16 April 1898". De West-Indiër. 17 April 1898.