PHILIPSBURG - Akeem Arrindell, a former member of parliament in Sint Maarten, was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Wednesday. He has also been banned from taking a public function or participating in an election for the next six and a half years. The court ruled that he was guilty of buying votes during the parliamentary elections of January last year. 

The court ruled that the charges against Arrindell of offering money for a person’s vote were proven. The Public Prosecution Service (OM) on the island has been battling voting fraud for years and warns every resident and politician during every election that buying votes is illegal. The OM thinks that the punishment is a “clear warning against attempts to undermine democracy in Sint Maarten.” 

In addition to Arrindell, there were two more suspects in this case. A fellow suspect was handed a prison sentence of 12 months, with four of those suspended if certain conditions are met and a probation period of three years. 

The other suspect was sentenced to 180 hours of community service, with 90 of those conditionally suspended and a probation period of three years. 

When a political party wins seats in parliamentary elections in Sint Maarten, they are allocated to the party’s candidates starting with the politician who won the most votes cast directly for them. This is different from the Netherlands, where seats are given based on how their party ranked them on the election ballot list. According to critics, this system encourages voter fraud because it is very important for politicians to get personal votes.