SURINAME – The Electoral Observation Mission of the Organization of American States (EOM/OAS) that today observes the general and local elections in Suriname deployed 26 observers in the 10 electoral districts of the country who reported normalcy on Election Day.
In previous days, the observers traveled to the most remote areas by road, water or air. The members of the EOM/OAS were present at the various voting places before 7:00 in the morning, which was opening time for the voting polls.
The initial report of the OAS observers, who have visited almost 80% of voting places, reflects the conditions of the opening of the observed voting tables and the beginning of the electoral process. After receiving this first information, Chief of Mission Irene Klinger reported that:
• The observed tables opened at 07:01 hours, on average.
• One hundred percent of observed tables had a minimum of three representatives at the time of opening and normally up to ten of them were present
• Representatives of various political parties were present at the voting tables observed
• Security forces were present in high percentages at the voting places observed and their surroundings
The EOM/OAS also highlighted that the beginning of Election Day was marked by peaceful participation, and representatives of the various political parties were present in an environment of harmony and exercised their right to vote in generalized calm.
The Chief of Mission urged Surinamese citizens to continue to actively participate in the ballots until the end of voting, set for 19:00. Representatives of the EOM/OAS will also be present at voting centers during the counting of the votes and at each district’s corresponding polling stations, where the final counting will take place.
Furthermore, Klinger recalled that the Mission she heads is evidence of the democratic commitment of all OAS countries, and announced that a final report with the results and recommendations of the observation mission will be presented to the OAS Permanent Council in the following weeks.
