1906 Surinamese general election

Partial general elections were held in Suriname in March 1906 to elect four of the thirteen members of the Colonial States.

Electoral system

The elections were held using the two-round system, with suffrage restricted to men who paid a tax contribution of 60 Dutch guilders.^[1] Voters had multiple votes, and any candidate receiving a number of votes equivalent to over 50% of the valid ballots cast was elected in the first round. If not all seats were filled, a second round was held.

Candidates were elected for a six-year term with staggered elections every two years. However, all 13 members had been renewed in the 1902 elections; they were divided into three groups; five had two-year terms and were up for renewal in 1904, four had four-year terms and were up for renewal in 1906 and four had six-year terms and were up for renewal in 1908.

The four members with two-year terms were Frits Curiel [nl], Frans Carel Gefken [nl], Jacques Bernard Nassy [nl] (who had been elected in 1903 as a replacement for Marcus Samson van Praag [nl]) and Reinbertus Aloisius Tammenga [nl]. Three of the four ran for re-election.

Around 800 people were eligible to vote.^[2]

Results

With 273 valid votes cast, candidates required 137 votes to be elected in the first round.^[3]

Candidate	Votes	%	Notes
Frits Curiel [nl]	237	86.81	Re-elected
Frans Carel Gefken [nl]	222	81.32	Re-elected
Reinbertus Aloisius Tammenga [nl]	166	60.81	Re-elected
Samuel Bueno Bibaz [nl]	137	50.18	Elected
A.M.W. Ter Laag	133	48.72
Pieter Walther Hering [nl]	59	21.61
A.J.J. Moelaart	29	10.62
Total	983	100.00
Valid votes	273	92.86
Invalid/blank votes	21	7.14
Total votes	294	100.00
Source: De Surinamer[4]

Aftermath

Alexander Ferrier Wilmans [nl] (elected in 1902) resigned in September 1906 to move to the Netherlands, with August Richard Bueno [nl] winning the by-election to succeed him.

October 1906 by-election

Candidate	Votes	%
August Richard Bueno [nl]	136	50.56
A.M.W. Ter Laag	133	49.44
Total	269	100.00
Valid votes	269	90.57
Invalid/blank votes	28	9.43
Total votes	297	100.00
Registered voters/turnout	814	36.49
Source: De Surinamer[5]

Jacobus Carolius Juda [nl] (elected in a 1905 by-election) resigned in 1907. Adrianus van 't Hoogerhuys [nl] was the only nominee in the subsequent by-election and was elected unopposed.^[6]

François Wijnand Hensen [nl] (elected in 1904) died in late 1907. Raimond Nazaire Guillaume Marie Bär von Hemmersweil [nl] was elected unopposed.^[7]

References

1. "Geschiedenis van DNA". National Assembly. Retrieved 2026-01-15.
2. "Koloniale Staten". Suriname. 25 March 1904.
3. "Verkiezing". Suriname. 3 April 1906.
4. "Koloniale Staten. Verkiezingen". De Surinamer. 1 April 1906.
5. "Verkiezing Kol. Staten". De Surinamer. 28 October 1906.
6. "Kol. Staten". De Surinamer. 7 January 1907.
7. "Verkiezing Kol. Staten". De Surinamer. 8 January 1908.