WILLEMSTAD – Voters in Curaçao faced difficulties finding and comparing political party programs during the March 2025 parliamentary elections, raising questions about whether the electorate had sufficient access to information needed to make informed political decisions.
The concerns are highlighted in the Electoral Council's 2025 annual report, which discusses an evaluation conducted with representatives of the media following the elections.
According to the evaluation, political party programs were not always readily available or easily accessible. This made it more difficult for voters to compare the positions, priorities and policy proposals of competing political organizations.
The findings point to an important weakness in the information available to the public during an election campaign in which political parties were competing for representation in the Curaçao Parliament.
Political Programs Difficult to Compare
Political party programs are among the principal documents through which parties explain their positions on economic policy, education, healthcare, public finances, social welfare and other matters affecting the population.
They allow voters to evaluate competing proposals and determine which political organization most closely reflects their priorities.
However, the post-election evaluation found that these documents were not always sufficiently accessible.
For voters seeking to compare parties on specific issues, the absence of easily available programs could make it more difficult to assess the substantive differences between candidates and political organizations.
The evaluation raises questions about whether future election campaigns should include a more structured approach to making party programs available to the public.
One possible improvement would be to provide voters with a centralized location where programs from participating political parties can be accessed and compared.
Such an initiative could improve transparency without requiring the Electoral Council to endorse or evaluate the political content of individual programs.
Media Criticize Timing of Election Information
The evaluation also identified shortcomings in communication surrounding the electoral process itself.
Media representatives indicated that information should have been provided earlier and distributed more gradually throughout the election period.
According to the feedback, this would have allowed journalists and media organizations more time to explain electoral procedures and relevant developments to the public.
The concerns suggest that election communication involves more than informing citizens about polling stations and voting procedures.
Timely access to reliable information also enables the media to provide context, examine political claims and help voters understand the choices before them.
For a country such as Curaçao, where traditional news outlets operate alongside a rapidly expanding digital information environment, the timing and accessibility of official communication can be particularly important.
Growing Concerns About Social Media and Disinformation
Participants in the evaluation also expressed concern about the increasing influence of digital platforms and social media on election campaigns.
The issues raised included the possibility of voter manipulation and the spread of disinformation.
Social media has become an important communication channel for political parties, candidates and voters. It allows political messages to reach large audiences quickly, often without the editorial review associated with traditional news organizations.
At the same time, inaccurate or misleading information can circulate rapidly and become difficult to correct.
The evaluation identifies these developments as areas requiring attention, although it does not establish that specific instances of digital manipulation changed the outcome of the March 2025 elections.
Electoral Council Plans Improvements
The Electoral Council has indicated that it intends to use the findings of the evaluation to improve communication and public information during future elections.
The report does not conclude that the shortcomings identified affected the final election results.
Nevertheless, the observations highlight the importance of ensuring that voters can obtain accurate, timely and accessible information throughout an election campaign.
Making political programs easier to find would allow citizens to compare competing proposals more effectively, while improvements in official communication could help journalists and voters navigate the electoral process.
The findings also raise a broader question about the quality of democratic participation in Curaçao.
Elections provide citizens with the opportunity to choose their representatives, but meaningful electoral participation also depends on access to information about the political alternatives available.
The Electoral Council's evaluation suggests that improving that access should become an important part of preparations for future parliamentary elections.