who had quit before and even on Election Day would still receive payment from the Ministry of Home Affairs  (BIZA). “It is true, but we have decided not to pay the people who cancelled or who did not show up. If lawsuits are filed against the State, we will fight them in court,” said the deputy minister of Home Affairs, Maurits Hassankhan. The director of Home Affairs, Nasier Eskak, confirmed that about 600 people quit in Paramaribo. More than 360 people  quit in the week of April 23 to 30. This issue has raised many questions about the justification of the payments and the efficiency of the electoral system. The Ministry of Home Affairs is still busy with a thorough evaluation. “We must find out why the people dropped out,” said Hassankhan. “After we have found the reasons, we can determine if and what we could do about it and if we should label it as a shortcoming or even a disease.” Reports indicate that money played an important role in this matter. Hassankhan mentioned two causes. Political parties offered to pay more money to propagandists on Election Day than BIZA. “If we pay a person SRD 800 to SRD 1,000 but if a party offers to pay SRD 2,000 some people choose to make a quick buck,”  said the deputy minister. Another cause is that the Independent Election Bureau  (OKB) also recruited observers from the same group of people who applied for a job at a polling station. “We received reports that indicate that people applied for a job at us before switching to the OKB where they could make more money,” said Hassankhan. The Home Affairs Ministry will take measures to prevent this problem in the future. One of the measures is aimed at letting applicants sign a binding contract prior to their participation in the training program. “Those who apply for a job commit themselves to certain conditions. If they fail to show up without a valid reason, they will not receive payment. We also want to blacklist people who quit for no valid reason so that they are not hired to work at a polling station in the future.”