2020 Sint Eustatius island council election
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Island Council elections were held in Sint Eustatius on 21 October 2020. Sint Eustatius is a special municipality (officially "public body") of the Netherlands.[4] The elections were originally to be held on 20 March 2019, but were postponed due to administrative intervention by the Dutch government.[5] On 23 September 2019, a new election date was announced.[6]
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 October 2020
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 seats in the Island council | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.[7] The new Island Council members were inaugurated on 29 October.[7][8][9]
Schedule
The timetable for these elections is as follows:[10]
| Date | action |
|---|---|
| 29 July 2020 | Last day for batch registration |
| 7 September 2020 | Day of nomination |
| 21 October 2020 | Day of voting |
| 23 October 2020 | Announcement of the final result |
Contesting parties
| Party | Position | Ideology | Leader
(since) |
Last election | At dissolution | Contesting | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive Labour Party | Centre-left | Rechelline Leerdam[11]
(July 2020) |
2 / 5 (40%) |
2 / 5 (40%) |
Yes | ||
| Democratic Party | Centre[12] | Christian democracy | Adelka Spanner
(August 2013)[13] |
2 / 5 (40%) |
2 / 5 (40%) |
Yes | |
| United People's Coalition | Centre | Elvin Henriquez[14]
(July 2020)[14] |
1 / 5 (20%) |
0 / 5 (0%) |
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.
| # | 2015 election | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Island Council Member[16][17] | Votes | ||
| 1 | Clyde van Putten | 251 | |
| 2 | Adelka Spanner | 150 | |
| 3 | Koos Sneek | 135 | |
| 4 | Reginald Zaandam | 67 | |
| 5 | Astrid McKenzie-Tatem | 58 | |
Results
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Progressive Labour Party | 815 | 51.39 | 3 | +1 | |
| Democratic Party | 647 | 40.79 | 2 | 0 | |
| United People's Coalition | 124 | 7.82 | 0 | –1 | |
| Total | 1,586 | 100.00 | 5 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 1,586 | 98.14 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 30 | 1.86 | |||
| Total votes | 1,616 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 2,102 | 76.88 | |||
