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One seat for three. This Sunday, Micheline Jacques, Maxime Desouches, and Benoît Chauvin are running in the Senate elections. All hope to serve as Saint Barthélemy’s representative in the Senate following the election. The election was preceded by some political maneuvering and public statements, notably by Territorial Council President Xavier Lédée, who has already announced that he will vote for the incumbent senator, as will the four elected officials from his group and Representative Frantz Gumbs.
Only electors vote
First of all, as a reminder and to prevent citizens from rushing to their usual polling places, Senate elections are held by indirect universal suffrage. This means that it is the electors who will be responsible for electing the island’s representative to the Senate. Consequently, on Sunday, only the nineteen territorial councilors, Representative Frantz Gumbs, and incumbent Senator Micheline Jacques will go to the polls to cast their ballots.
The first round of voting will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. If a second round is necessary—which seems highly likely—it will begin at 3:30 p.m. Electors are required to vote or face a fine. To be elected in the first round, a candidate must receive a majority of the votes—that is, 12 out of 21.
Two Ballots for Micheline Jacques
There is a special circumstance regarding Micheline Jacques. She will be able to vote once in her capacity as a senator and once as a territorial councilor. However, she is only allowed to cast one ballot. Therefore, a person she has designated will cast the second ballot on her behalf. In this case, for this election, it will be the honorary president of the Territorial Collectivity, Bruno Magras, who will do so.
Similarly, Representative Frantz Gumbs must vote in both Saint Martin and Saint Barthélemy. Since the elected official cannot yet be in two places at once, he told the JSB that his alternate, Territorial Councilor Mélissa Lake, will vote on his behalf in Saint-Barthélemy.
A Vote in the Wedding Hall
These Senate elections have another unique feature. The polling station will not be set up in the prefecture, as is the case throughout French territory. In fact, even though the State retains control over the conduct of the election, the electors will be summoned to the wedding hall of the Territorial Collectivity’s headquarters. This is a first. According to President Xavier Lédée, the request to relocate the polling station came from the prefecture. The elected official cited the cramped quarters of the prefectural delegation’s building and “a slight concern and a desire to limit the risk of disputes from either side.”
The three candidates
Micheline Jacques
Elected to the Senate in September 2020, Micheline Jacques is seeking a second term. Aged 54 and a former school principal, she is a territorial councilor for the Saint-Barth d’Abord group, a member of the Les Républicains party, and has served as chair of the Senate Delegation for Overseas Territories since 2023. Her alternate is business leader Jérémy Laplace, the current president of the Multiprofessional Economic Chamber.
Benoît Chauvin
A territorial councilor for Saint-Barthélemy from 2007 to 2017, a former candidate in the 2012 and 2017 legislative elections as well as the 2014 Senate elections, and former president of the Territorial Environmental Agency, Benoît Chauvin is 54 years old. An economist and statistician with a strong interest in environmental issues, he identifies as a centrist. His alternate is Peggi Tello, an accountant.
Maxime Desouches
A territorial councilor since 2002 and the top candidate on the ballot in the 2007 and 2012 territorial elections, he works as a pilot and is a mechanic by trade. He is 63 years old. Audrey Desouches-Kleinhans, one of his two daughters, is his alternate for this election.
Read the interview with the three candidates in issue 1679 of the JSB or online at our website www.journaldesaintbarth.com
