2020 Sint Eustatius island council election explained

Country:Sint Eustatius
Next Year:2023
Flag Year:2020
Type:Parliamentary
Previous Election:2015 Dutch island council elections
Previous Year:2015
Election Date:21 October 2020
Next Election:2023 Dutch island council elections
Seats For Election:5 seats in the Island council
Party1:Progressive Labour Party (Sint Eustatius)
Image1: PLP
Leader1:Rechelline Leerdam
Last Election1:30.44%, 2 seats
Popular Vote1:815
Percentage1:51.39%
Seats Before1:2
Seats1:3
Seat Change1:1
Party2:Democratic Party (Sint Eustatius)
Leader2:Adelka Spanner
Last Election2:29.94%, 2 seats
Popular Vote2:647
Percentage2:40.79%
Seats Before2:2
Seats2:2
Leader of Government[1]
Before Election:Clyde van Putten[2]
Before Party:Progressive Labour Party

Island Council elections were held in Sint Eustatius on 21 October 2020. Sint Eustatius is a special municipality (officially "public body") of the Netherlands.[3] The elections were originally to be held on 20 March 2019, but were postponed due to administrative intervention by the Dutch government.[4]  On 23 September 2019, a new election date was announced.[5]

Since 2015 foreign nationals also have the right to vote and to stand as a candidate if they are 18 years of age, reside lawfully on Bonaire, Sint Eustatius or Saba on the day of nomination, and have been a resident of the Netherlands or legally resided there immediately prior to that day for an uninterrupted period of at least five years.

The Progressive Labour Party, led by Rechelline Leerdam, won three seats on Island Council to form the governing majority, while the Democratic Party, led by Adelka Spanner, won the remaining two seats.[6] The new Island Council members were inaugurated on 29 October.[6] [7] [8]

Schedule

The timetable for these elections is as follows:[9]

Dateaction
29 July 2020Last day for batch registration
7 September 2020Day of nomination
21 October 2020Day of voting
23 October 2020Announcement of the final result

Contesting parties

PartyPositionIdeologyLeaderLast electionAt dissolutionContesting
Progressive Labour PartyCentre-leftRechelline Leerdam[10] Yes
Democratic PartyCentre[11] Christian democracyAdelka Spanner[12] Yes
United People's CoalitionCentreElvin Henriquez[13] Yes

Incumbent legislature

In the 2015 elections, the Progressive Labour Party and Democratic Party won two seats each, with the United People's Coalition taking one seat. Turnout was 65.46%, with 1,594 out of 2,135 eligible voters taking part. There were 6 blank ballots and 8 invalid ballots. The incumbent coalition was between the PLP and UPC.

! colspan="3"

2015 election
Island Council Member[14] [15] Votes
1Clyde van Putten251
2Adelka Spanner150
3Koos Sneek135
4Reginald Zaandam67
5Astrid McKenzie-Tatem58

Notes and References

  1. News: Clyde van Putten: Voter is Always Right . 7 September 2020 . BES Reporter . 22 March 2019.
  2. News: Clyde van Putten: Voter is Always Right . 7 September 2020 . BES Reporter . 22 March 2019.
  3. Web site: Wet openbare lichamen Bonaire, Sint Eustatius en Saba (Law on the public bodies of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba). 14 October 2010. Dutch Government. Dutch.
  4. https://antilliaansdagblad.com/saba-st-eustatius/18612-verkiezingen-st-eustatius-van-de-baan Verkiezingen St Eustatius van de baan
  5. Web site: Sint-Eustatius in 2020 naar stembus, Nederlandse regering blijft voorlopig besturen. NTR Caribisch Netwerk. 24 September 2019. 25 September 2019.
  6. News: Island Council St. Eustatius installed . . 2020-10-29 . 2022-04-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220418123804/https://www.statiagovernment.com/news-and-tenders/news/2020/10/29/island-council-st.-eustatius-installed?msclkid=2930ce4dbf1311ec9e7fb85bf259a3b0 . 2022-04-18 . live.
  7. News: St. Eustatius Island Council Sworn In . . 2020-10-29 . 2022-04-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220418124927/https://www.sxm-talks.com/the-daily-herald/st-eustatius-island-council-sworn-in-the-daily-herald/?msclkid=29311466bf1311ecb66cb7ebae0498e6 . 2022-04-18 . live.
  8. News: St. Eustatius Island Council Sworn In . . Saba News . 2020-10-30 . 2022-04-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220418125345/https://www.saba-news.com/st-eustatius-island-council-sworn-in/?msclkid=2930ee7dbf1311ecb13e9502810f4e2e . 2022-04-18 . live.
  9. Web site: van Rij. Marnix. 2020-06-15. Information Bulletin of the Public Entity of St. Eustatius- Island Council Election October 21, 2020 - Publication - St. Eustatius. live. 2020-09-15. www.statiagovernment.com. en-GB. https://web.archive.org/web/20200711122845/https://www.statiagovernment.com/documents/publications/2020/06/15/information-bulletin-of-the-public-entity-of-st.-eustatius--island-council-election-october-21-2020 . 11 July 2020 .
  10. Web site: 2020-07-20. PLP (Statia) Elects Rechelline Leerdam as New Party Leader. 2020-09-07. BES Reporter. en-US.
  11. Web site: Democratic Party of Sint Eustatius. 2020-09-07. www.facebook.com. en.
  12. Web site: August 13, 2013. Adelka Spanner nieuwe DP-leider. 2020-09-07. Caribisch Netwerk. nl.
  13. Web site: 2020-07-18. Elvin Henriquez to lead UPC into Upcoming Election. 2020-09-07. BES Reporter. en-US.
  14. Web site: The Daily Herald . 2020-09-07. thedailyherald.info.
  15. Web site: Elections Concluded on Bes Islands SXMElections.com. 2020-09-07. beta.sxmelections.com.