On Tuesday, March 3, 2015, the Council of Ministers (COM) received a presentation by the Electoral Council regarding its work in the past year.
The Electoral Council was represented by its Chairman Bert Hofman and Members Linda Richardson and Genara Richardson-Nicolaas.
The Electoral Council was established early in 2014 and the organization had to hit the ground running, because the first Parliamentary elections were planned for later that year.
The Electoral Council is charged with enforcing the law on the registration and finances of political parties and is independent in its dealings, comparable to the High Councils of State of St. Maarten.
The Electoral Council provided several information sessions as part of its information campaign in order to inform the public, the political candidates and the political parties regarding their responsibilities.
Currently the Electoral Council is reviewing the donation registrations of the individual candidates and the political parties.
The deadlines for submitting this information were September 29, 2014 and February 1, 2015 respectively.
The political parties are obligated to submit their annual reports before April 1, 2015. After the review by the Electoral Council, the General Audit Chamber of Sint Maarten will review and provide its comments.
Based on the findings of the General Audit Chamber and the Electoral Council, recommendations will be communicated to the Council of Ministers regarding the processes involved.
The Council of Ministers values the work done by the Electoral Council and its contribution to a transparent and integer electoral process for Country Sint Maarten.