1908 Surinamese general election

Partial general elections were held in Suriname in March 1908 to elect four of the thirteen members of the Colonial States.

Electoral system

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.

Candidates were elected for a six-year term with staggered elections every two years and the 1908 elections were for the four members elected in the 1902 elections. However, of the four with six-year terms, only one had remained a member since 1902: Theophilius Libertador Ellis  [ nl ]. Adrianus van 't Hoogerhuys  [ nl ] had resigned in 1905 and been replaced by Jacobus Carolius Juda  [ nl ]. However, when Juda resigned in 1907, van 't Hoogerhuys was elected unopposed as his replacement. Of the other two elected in 1902, Frederik Willem Morren  [ nl ] had been replaced by Roelof Fabriek  [ nl ] in 1905 and Alexander Ferrier Wilmans  [ nl ] by August Richard Bueno  [ nl ] in 1906. All four incumbents ran for re-election.

Results

With 339 valid votes cast, candidates required 170 votes to be elected in the first round. ^[1] All four incumbents were easily re-elected with over 80% of the vote.

Candidate	Votes	%	Notes
Adrianus van 't Hoogerhuys  [ nl ]	307	90.56	Re-elected
Roelof Fabriek  [ nl ]	288	84.96	Re-elected
August Richard Bueno  [ nl ]	283	83.48	Re-elected
Theophilius Libertador Ellis  [ nl ]	280	82.60	Re-elected
J.C.P. Ulrich	77	22.71
Total	1,235	100.00
Valid votes	339	97.13
Invalid/blank votes	10	2.87
Total votes	349	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	748	46.66
Source: De Surinamer [1]

Aftermath

Raimond Nazaire Guillaume Marie Bär von Hemmersweil  [ nl ] (elected in a by-election earlier in 1908) resigned in late 1908. Franciscus Smith  [ nl ] was elected as his replacement.

February 1909 by-election

Candidate	Votes	%
Franciscus Smith  [ nl ]	232	81.12
C.C.M. Ligtenberg	54	18.88
Total	286	100.00
Valid votes	286	96.30
Invalid votes	10	3.37
Blank votes	1	0.34
Total votes	297	100.00
Source: Suriname [2]

't Hoogerhuys resigned in 1909 and was replaced by Harry van Ommeren  [ nl ].

17–21 June 1909 by-election

Candidate	Votes	%
Harry van Ommeren  [ nl ]	187	57.89
P. Carst	136	42.11
Total	323	100.00
Valid votes	323	94.17
Invalid votes	11	3.21
Blank votes	9	2.62
Total votes	343	100.00
Source: De West [3]

Frans Carel Gefken  [ nl ] (elected in 1906) died in June 1909 and was replaced by Lucas Lubbertus Beckeringh van Loenen  [ nl ].

September–October 1909 by-election

Candidate	First round		Second round
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Lucas Lubbertus Beckeringh van Loenen  [ nl ]	110	40.00	152	50.67
H. Gonggrijp	79	28.73	148	49.33
Pieter Walther Hering  [ nl ]	73	26.55
Wilhelmus Nicolaas Stephanus Arntz  [ nl ]	13	4.73
Total	275	100.00	300	100.00
Valid votes	275	93.86	300	98.04
Invalid/blank votes	18	6.14	6	1.96
Total votes	293	100.00	306	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	728	40.25
Source: Nieuwe Surinaamsche courant, [4] De West [5]

References

1. "Verkiezingen Kol. Staten". De Surinamer. 2 April 1908.
2. "Nabetrachting". Suriname. 16 February 1909.
3. "De Verkizeing". Suriname. 22 June 1909.
4. "De Verkiezing en uitslag". Nieuwe Surinaamsche courant. 9 September 1909.
5. "De verkizeing". De West. 12 October 1909.