2014 Sint Maarten general election

2014 Sint Maarten general election

←  2010 29 August 2014 2016  →
All 15 seats in Parliament 8 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	69.16% ( 2.31pp)
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/– UPP Theo Heyliger 42.67 7 +1 NA William Marlin 27.86 4 −3 DP Sarah Wescott-Williams 16.09 2 0 USP Frans Richardson 11.31 2 New This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. Prime Minister before Prime Minister after Sarah Wescott-Williams DP Marcel Gumbs UPP

General elections were held in Sint Maarten on 29 August 2014. ^[1] They were the first elections since Sint Maarten became a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 2010, at which point the Island Council became the Estates. The result was a victory for the United People's Party, which won seven of the 15 seats in the Estates. ^[2]

Electoral system

The 15 seats in the Estates were elected by proportional representation. ^[3] In order to participate in the election, a party was required to obtain at least 138 signatures; 1% of the valid votes of the 2010 Island Council elections. ^[4]

Campaign

Five parties secured the required number of signatures to contest the elections; the Democratic Party Sint Maarten (DP), the National Alliance (NA), the One St. Maarten People Party (OSPP), the United People's Party (UP) and the United St. Maarten Party (US). The DP, NA, UP and US were easily able to get the necessary signatures, whilst the OSPP only narrowly qualified.

The Social Reform Party led by Jacinto Mock, a former National Alliance candidate, obtained fewer than 80 signatures, and was initially declared unable to run. ^[4] However, it did ultimately contest the elections.

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	United People's Party	6,211	42.67	7	+1
	National Alliance	4,055	27.86	4	–3
	Democratic Party	2,342	16.09	2	0
	United St. Maarten Party	1,647	11.31	2	New
	One St. Maarten People Party	169	1.16	0	New
	Social Reform Party	132	0.91	0	New
Total		14,556	100.00	15	0
Valid votes		14,556	98.17
Invalid votes		191	1.29
Blank votes		80	0.54
Total votes		14,827	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		21,439	69.16
Source: Government of Sint Maarten [5]

References

1. Country of Sint Maarten IFES
2. Omstreden UP'er wint op St Maarten NOS. 30 August 2014
3. The Constitution Archived 2014-08-02 at the Wayback Machine Estates of Sint Maarten
4. Hilbert Haar (16 July 2014). "Deelnemers Verkiezingen Sint Maarten bekend". Caribisch Netwerk (in Dutch). Retrieved 8 August 2014.
5. "Parliament elections August 29, 2014" (PDF). Government of Sint Maarten.