PHILIPSBURG - In the run-up to the 2020 parliamentary elections in Sint Maarten the court has granted permission to remove a candidate from a party’s candidate list that was already definitively approved. Within the Kingdom of the Netherlands there is no verdict published in which a court grants permission to remove a candidate from a candidate list that is definitively approved.

 

The candidate was not eligible for this election since he was not a resident of Sint Maarten thirty days prior to postulation day.

 

In a normal situation the Central Voting Bureau would have removed this candidate from the list. However, in this case the candidate mistakenly obtained a declaration from the Civil Registry Department that was given to all eligible candidates. Taken this declaration into account, the Central Voting Bureau approved the candidate list that included the non-eligible candidate. Only after the approval the error came to the attention of the Central Voting Bureau.

 

Due to the short time frame the attorneys of the Central Voting Bureau, Camiel Koster and Jeroen Vlasblom of BZSE Attorneys at Law, urgently requested the court to grant approval to remove this candidate from the candidate list. A hearing took place during the court’s judicial vacation and a verdict was rendered by judge Paula van der Burgt the same day. As a result the name of the candidate was not printed on the ballot-papers, instead a space was left blank to indicate the omission to the voters.

 

The Central Voting Bureau was represented in this case by Camiel Koster and Jeroen Vlasbom of BZSE Attorneys at Law I Tax Lawyers.

 

Read the verdict here

Uitspraak Verkiezingen d.d. 23-12-2019