They pointed out that the election process was unprofessional and slow.

Multiple organizations including the  Independent Election Bureau (OKB) expressed their discontent with the fact that things did not go smoothly.

“The election process did not go smoothly at all. There were many gaps and delays and the Ministry of Home Affairs  (BIZA) and the  Central Main Polling Bureau  (CHS) should have intervened sooner so that everything could have gone smoothly,” said  Samseerali Sheikh-Alibaks, chairman of the OKB.

“I received reports that people stood in line for three hours. I do not know if it is an exaggeration but one thing is certain and that is that things went too slow. The delays were caused by members of the polling stations who wasted too much time explaining the election process. That is not their task. That is the task of the political parties and Home Affairs. We had information campaigns for many weeks. It is unacceptable that polling stations wasted time on time.” Another problem that plagued the elections was the fact that people were turned away if they could not show their voter registration card. “That is unlawful,” said the OKB. “If somebody is on the list of voters, a blank voter registration card must be filled out. Period.” Reports indicate that people who were authorized by others to vote on their behalf were also turned away if they could not show the ID card of the person on whose behalf they had to vote. But the rules do not state that it is mandatory to have the ID card of that person. Many observers complain about the fact that the main polling stations and the CHS could not be reached on Election Day. “They either  do not pick up the phone or they refer you to somebody who is not authorized to make decisions. The confidence in the CHS is crumbling,” said the chairman of the OKB. The deputy chairwoman of the OKB, Wendy Jap-A-Joe, does not share the same opinion. “There is nothing wrong. Early in the morning after the polling stations were opened there were indeed a few issues but those were resolved quickly. Things went smoothly for the remainder of the day,” said the deputy chairwoman.  Nasier Eskak, the director of the Ministry of Home Affairs, also claimed that all of the issues that had been reported were addressed. “We received reports from all over the country and there was no reason to panic because all issues were addressed,” said Eskak. But one observer told Times of Suriname that officials must do their homework better. “This election process is literally trembling. If we keep this up, we will undermine the confidence in democracy itself,” said the observer.