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The Windward Islands People’s Movement WIPM secured all five seats in the March 20 Island Council elections on Saba with 779 votes of the total number of 984 valid votes that were cast. The preliminary voting results announced shortly after 11:00pm on Wednesday showed that the Saba Labor Party (SLP) and the blank slate of Dave Levenstone were unable to pull a seat with respectively 125 votes and 80 votes.
The biggest vote-getter was WIPM candidate number two Bruce Zagers with 272 votes, followed by WIPM party leader and the number one candidate Rolando Wilson with 153 votes. Eviton Heyliger, who ran number 4 on the WIPM slate was the third highest vote-getter with 106 votes. Number 3 on the WIPM list Carl Buncamper got 56 votes, number five on the WIPM slate Vito Charles 74 votes. Newcomers on the WIPM list, number six Hemmie van Xanten, number seven Esmeralda Johnson and number eight Jelle van der Velde received respectively 67, 39 and 12 votes.
Number one on the SLP list Monique Wilson only managed to secure 59 votes, a lot less than she secured in the 2015 Island Council elections.
Number two, Ishmael Levenston received 40 votes, number three Thaddeus Nicholson 7, number four Charles Hassell 16, and number five Sislene Matthew 3.
Dave Levenstone, who ran with a blank slate, got 80 votes in total.
Electoral College elections
WIPM secured 547 votes in the Electoral College elections and the SLP 110 votes. Levenstone did not participate in the Electoral College elections. In the Electoral College, the WIPM will have four seats and the SLP one.
Clean sweep
“I told you there would be surprises when we presented our strong team five weeks ago,” said WIPM party leader Rolando Wilson in his short victory speech on the balcony of the Government Administration Building in front of a few hundred cheering people. “What a day! A clean sweep! Thank you voters!” said Bruce Zagers. Eviton Heyliger spoke of a “historic moment.”
Chairman of the Main and Central Bureau Island Governor Jonathan Johnson who announced the preliminary results, thanked the voters for the “maturity and civility” that they displayed. The definite voting results will be ascertained during a meeting of the Main Voting Bureau this Friday, March 20. On Thursday March 28, the new Island Council for the period 2019-2023 will be installed, and the two Commissioners appointed.
GIS Saba