An election of the Members of the European Parliament from the Netherlands was held on 23 May 2019. It was the ninth time such an election had been held in the Netherlands. The number of Dutch seats had been set to increase from 26 to 29 following Brexit, but due to the extension of the Article 50 process in the United Kingdom, the number of seats to be elected remained at 26.
Candidate lists presented to the Electoral Council
23 May 2019
European Election in the Netherlands
4 June 2019
Official results released by the Electoral Council
2 July 2019
9th European Parliament session begins (2019–2024)
Right to vote
In order to vote, a person must:
have either the Dutch nationality or the nationality of a European Union member state,
be 18 years or older, and
not be otherwise disqualified from voting.
Additionally, nationals of other member states of the European Union must:
be resident in the Netherlands on the day the candidates are nominated,
not be disqualified from voting either in the Netherlands or in the Member State in which they are a national, and
have registered in a municipality declaring that they want to vote in the Netherlands instead of in the home country (by filling out the Y-32 form).
Dutch nationals abroad, as well as in Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten have to register to vote for the elections to the European Parliament. When they register, they must say whether they will vote by post, by proxy, or in person at a polling station in the Netherlands.
Dutch nationals living in another EU member state must make a statement that they have not voted in the member state in which they reside, if they want to vote in the Netherlands.
Dutch residents on Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba have no need to register, because these islands are part of the Netherlands. They are able to vote in person at polling stations on the islands.
Right to stand as a candidate
In order to stand in the European Parliament election, a candidate must:
hold either Dutch nationality or the nationality of a Member State of the European Union,
be at least 18 years of age on the day they would be sworn into the European Parliament, and
have the right to vote.
Additionally, candidates from other member states of the European Union must:
be resident in the Netherlands, and
be able to stand as a candidate in the member state of which they are a national.
In elections for the European Parliament, the national electoral districts play no role in the nomination. The Netherlands consists of a single electoral district. Political parties, therefore, take part in the elections with only a single candidate list.
However, the national electoral districts do play an important role in processing the election results. The principal polling station of each constituency determines the vote total of the constituency. The results of the vote are recorded in an official document and transferred to the Electoral Council. The Electoral Council, in its role as the central electoral committee, then determines the result of the Netherlands' distribution of seats.
Casting a vote
A voter could cast their vote at a polling station of their choice within their own district. At the casting their vote, they could identify themselves with an identity document which is considered valid even if it has expired within the last five years.
The parties which had obtained one or more seats in 2014 at the last election to the European Parliament were given a number based on the number of votes they had received in the previous election. These totalled nine candidate lists. The party with the most votes got number 1 and the rest were listed accordingly. The list numbers for the remaining candidate lists were decided by a lottery.
Parties can form common lists, which means that two or more parties create a single list and stand in the elections as though they were one party. There are two for this election:
Traditionally, all elections are held on Wednesday in the Netherlands. However, the European Parliament elections run from Thursday to Sunday across the entire European Union so Thursday was chosen. This is because it is the only day that the Dutch Government believes is appropriate for an election day due to it not being a rest day for any religion. Sunday is not an option because it is a rest day for Christians, while it is the Sabbath on Friday and Saturday.[2][3]
To be elected by preference votes, 10% of the electoral quota is needed. The electoral quota was 211,454. 10% of 211,454 = 21,145 votes.[23]
36 members were directly elected by preference votes. Not all candidates could be appointed because either the party did not get enough seats, or it got no seats.
Members not elected, but enough preference votes:
D66 – Raoul Boucke, by 22,500 votes
VVD – Bart Groothuis, by 21,353 votes
Christian Union-SGP – Anja Haga, by 37,813 votes
GreenLeft – Sabine Klok, by 26,949 votes
GreenLeft – Eline van Nistelrooij, by 26,250 votes
↑ "Verkiezing Nederlandse leden van het Europees Parlement"[Election of dutch Members of the European Parliament]. www.rijksoverheid.nl (in Dutch). Ministerie van Algemene Zaken (Ministry of General Affairs). 2019-04-15. Archived from the original on 2019-05-24. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
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