15 May How much influence do foreigners have on the 2020 elections in Suriname?
The elections are near and according to the Surinamese Constitution, all who have a Surinamese nationality and 18 years or older are allowed to vote. This indicates that those who were not born in Suriname, but do have the Surinamese nationality and are 18 years or older, may vote on 25 May 2020.
The media talks a lot about voters with a foreign background. The leads to the question:
How big is this group and how much influence will it have on the upcoming elections?
Let’s use the group of Haitians in Suriname that have the Surinamese nationality and are entitled to vote. Where do they live and how many are there?
The data, obtained from the Ministry of the Interior, shows that 93 people of Haitian descent have voting rights in Paramaribo. In Saramacca there are 76. And the largest group of Haitians with voting rights is in the Wanica district (207 voters).
How much influence can this group have on the upcoming elections? To answer this question, we can look back to the elections held in 2015. During the 2015 elections, a candidate in Wanica district needed a minimum of 9050 votes to get a seat for his/her party. On this basis, we can assume that the 207 voters of Haitian descent who are in Wanica have a limited influence.
Incidentally, the largest group of foreign nationals with voting rights in Suriname is Guyanese. There are 5551 Guyanese in Suriname.
Do you want to know which other groups have the right to vote in the upcoming elections and in what numbers? This data and more is available to everyone through our interactive dashboard.