1876 Surinamese general election
Partial general elections were held in Suriname in March 1876 to elect three of the nine elected members of the Colonial States.
Electoral system
The Colonial States consisted of nine elected members and four appointed by the Governor-General. Elected members served six-year terms, with three members elected every two years. The 1876 elections were to replace the three members elected in 1870,, and. However, none of the three were still members by 1876; Bosch Reitz was replaced by in 1873, Arlaud died in 1874 and was replaced by, while Benjamins resigned in 1875 and was replaced by.The elections were held using the two-round system, with suffrage restricted to men who paid a tax contribution of 60 Dutch guilders. 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 with twice the number of candidates as seats remaining, who were the candidates who received the most votes but failed to be elected in the first round.
Results
As there were 94 valid ballots cast, candidates required 48 votes to be elected in the first round. All three incumbents were easily re-elected in the first round.Aftermath
Governor-General reappointed, and as nominated members, together with.The newly elected States met for the first time on 11 May 1876, with Bosch Reitz remaining chairman. However, he resigned later in the year and was replaced by. De Jong took over as chairman until he and Jurriaanse resigned from the States in 1877. They were replaced by and Coenraad van Lier, with taking over as chairman.