Low turnout expected for Second Chamber election

Participation of voters on St. Eustatius and Saba in the Dutch Parliament’s Second Chamber election, which will be held today, Wednesday, may be low, according to a Curconsult poll. For the first time since the constitutional reform voters in the Caribbean Netherlands are eligible to vote for the Second Chamber. However, only 23 per cent of voters in Statia and Saba have the intention to vote, according to the poll, organised by Radio Netherlands Worldwide. The poll, held earlier this month among 100 eligible voters on Saba and 133 on Statia, also revealed there is little knowledge among voters about the election and the Dutch political parties and their leaders. Only 14 per cent of respondents on Statia and 11 per cent on Saba said they were well-informed about Dutch politics.

As a consequence, 85 per cent of voters on Saba and 70 per cent on Statia said they had not yet decided for which party they would vote. The poll also revealed that voters in the Caribbean Netherlands do not have much confidence in the Second Chamber. Most voters, 89 per cent of those polled, stated they had not noticed any political campaigning on their respective islands. Polling stations for the Second Chamber election on Saba are located at Sunny Valley Youth Centre in The Bottom and Eugenius Johnson Centre in Windwardside. These are to accommodate 802 eligible voters. The polling station on St. Eustatius is located at the Public Library in Oranjestad. The polling stations on Saba and Statia will open at 7:30am and will close at 9:00pm. The Island Governors are presiding over the local polling stations and are overseeing the electoral process.

Source: “The Daily Herald” 2012-09-12