Today, on May 25th, 2020, the Country of Suriname, South America went out to vote.
It was a particularly long day and due to the large turnout (70+% so far based on data that is currently in) and the COVID rules, we had to wait extra long. Personally, I had to wait in line for about 2 hours to vote.
The Voting Process:
In Suriname we vote for members of the Parliament. There are 51 seats, with our capital Paramaribo accounting for 17 of those 51 seats.
The second ballot is for local representatives, which might need to vote if parliament is not able to agree on the President. After all 51 new members of the parliament are chosen, the first meeting in parliament will be chaired by the oldest person elected. During this meeting, the president will be elected if 2/3 of the members vote for own of the candidates.
Early results:
Currently, only 0-5% of all votes are in, but we do see some significant changes compared to 2015. However, the two sources of data that are coming in do show some difference, so it would be premature for me to give any predictions.
My Personal Experience:
It was my 3rd time voting and it was a little different than usual. First of all due to the fact that I personally know a lot of the people on the ballot now. But also the COVID situation made the wait a little longer than usual. Luckily I was in good company, which made my waiting a lot better.
I didn't take any pictures in the voting booth, as making a selfie or taking any pictures in the voting area and/or near the booth, your vote would be registered as invalid. I could have taken some pictures of the lines and the voting location, but I honestly didn't really plan on posting on Hive about it, so this post is a bit unannounced 😅.
Lots of love from #Suriname
