Elections in the Netherlands

Last updated

Elections in the Netherlands are held for five territorial levels of government: the European Union, the state, the twelve Provinces, the 21 water boards and the 344 municipalities (and the three public bodies in the Caribbean Netherlands). Apart from elections, referendums were also held occasionally, but have been removed from the law in 2018. The most recent national election results and an overview of the resulting seat assignments and coalitions since World War II are shown at the bottom of this page.

Contents

At the national level, legislative power is invested in the States General (Staten-Generaal), which is bicameral. The House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) has 150 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation. Elections are also called after a dissolution of the House of Representatives. All elections are direct, except for the Senate (Eerste Kamer), which has 75 members, elected for a four-year term by provincial councillors on the basis of proportional representation at the provincial elections.

The Netherlands has a multi-party system, with numerous parties, in which usually no one party ever secures an overall majority of votes (except occasionally in very small municipalities, such as Tubbergen), so that several parties must cooperate to form a coalition government. This usually includes the party supported by a plurality of voters, with only three exceptions since World War II, in 1971, 1977 and 1982, when the Labour Party (PvdA) was the largest party but did not take part in the coalition.

Candidates to the elections of the House of Representatives are chosen from party lists according to a system of party-list proportional representation. The threshold is 1/150th of the total number of valid votes.

During the municipal elections of 2006, elections were electronic throughout the country. As a result, results were known before the end of the day, a mere two hours after the closing of the poll stations. For the national elections in November of that same year, however, several polling stations decided to return to paper and red pencil because of security issues with the voting machines. Since then, most elections have been held using paper and pencil.

The most recent direct elections were the provincial elections on 15 March 2023 and the most recent indirect elections were the Senate elections on 30 May 2023.

Timing

The maximum parliamentary term is five years [1] and elections are generally held about four years after the previous one. Regular elections, i.e. after the House of Representatives has fulfilled its term, take place in March. If municipal or provincial elections are already taking place in March of that year, the parliamentary election is postponed to May. Elections are planned for spring to ensure that a new cabinet is formed in time to present its plans on the most important day in the Dutch Parliament, Prinsjesdag. [2] If the House of Representatives is dissolved, due to a severe conflict between the House of Representatives and cabinet, or within the cabinet, a snap election takes place as soon as possible, usually after two months to give parties time to prepare. The term of the next House can be shortened or prolonged by almost a year to ensure the next normal election again takes place in March or May.

Municipal and provincial elections always take place every four years, in March; municipal elections always two years after a year divisible by four, and provincial elections one year after municipal elections. Municipal councils and States-Provincial cannot be dissolved, so no snap elections can occur. An exception to the four-year term is made when two or more municipalities merge and a new election takes place for the merged municipality.

Senate elections also take place every four years, in May following the provincial elections. The Senate can be dissolved, and subsequently snap elections take place, but since the States-Provincial remain the same, this seldom occurs. A Senate elected in a snap election sits out the remainder of its predecessor's term.

Elections usually take place on Wednesdays, but the government can decide to change this to a Tuesday, Thursday or Friday if there are good reasons to do so (e.g. when the election day coincides with a national holiday). [3] Elections for the European Parliament always take place on a Thursday. [4]

Eligibility

Every Dutch citizen who has reached the age of 18 is eligible to vote (actief kiesrecht, or "active suffrage") or to stand for election as a member of the House of Representatives (passief kiesrecht, or "passive suffrage"). A notable exception is municipal elections, in which persons younger than 18 can be elected, although they may not take their seat until their 18th birthday. Also, for the municipal election one does not have to be Dutch; residents who are citizens of another EU country are also eligible to vote, as well as citizens of other countries who have lived (legally) in the Netherlands for five years. Someone may be deprived of these rights if they are mentally incapable of making a reasoned choice or have lost their right to vote by court sentence. Two weeks before an election all voters receive a card, which is the evidence that they are entitled to vote, and this card must be handed over at the polling-station before voting. Voting is not compulsory. Compulsory voting was introduced along with universal suffrage in 1917, but it was abolished in 1967.

It is not necessary or even possible specifically to register as a voter for elections in the Netherlands: every resident inhabitant of the Netherlands is required to register as such with the municipality in which they are living, and this data (which includes their nationality and date of birth) is the basis from which the electoral register is derived.

Dutch citizens who live abroad (and have deregistered themselves as a Dutch resident) are allowed to vote for the House of Representatives and for the European Parliament, but not for municipal or provincial elections. They do need to register themselves as a voter.

System

The House of Representatives is elected using an open party list system of proportional representation.

Election

Voting using "paper and red pencil": the voter colours in the box preceding the name of their favored candidate. Stemmen2.jpg
Voting using "paper and red pencil": the voter colours in the box preceding the name of their favored candidate.
Voting at Dutch elections in 1918 Voting at Dutch elections 1918.jpg
Voting at Dutch elections in 1918
Vote counting at Dutch elections in 1913 Vote counting at Dutch elections 1913.jpg
Vote counting at Dutch elections in 1913

For all elections polling is organised on the basis of municipalities. In each municipality there are multiple voting stations, usually in communal buildings, such as churches, schools, and more recently, railway stations. There are two different systems: using the call-to-vote card (oproepkaart) or a voting pass (stempas). With the oproepkaart, voters may vote, using this card, only at their nearest voting station, or if lost, their identity card. With a stempas, users may vote at any station in their municipality, but must have the pass with them. If it is lost, a replacement can be requested, but only until a few days before the elections. A stempas (of different type) can also be requested to vote in a different municipality.

When arriving at a voting station, voters hand in their card or pass to one of the three attendants of the voting station, who checks the card, cancels it, issues ballot papers to the voter, and directs him or her to the polling-booth.

Dutch citizens living abroad are able to vote by registering in advance and then using a postal vote. The results are counted by the municipality of The Hague and included in its own results. In 2006, they could vote over the internet via the Rijnland Internet Election System, but in 2008 security concerns led to a law against Internet voting. [5]

Voting is done in one of two ways: manually marking a ballot paper with a red pencil or electronically, using a voting machine. In 2005, almost all municipalities planned to abandon pencil-and-paper voting. However, serious doubts were raised over the inviolability of the computers used from potential vote tampering and electronic eavesdropping. [6] [7] This led to a run on foreign voting machines and reintroduction of the red pencil in some municipalities in 2006, occasionally using converted medical waste disposal containers as voting boxes.

For mayoral and provincial gubernatorial positions, the Netherlands is one of the few countries in Europe where no elections are held. Instead, they are appointed by the Crown, after recommendation by the city council or States-Provincial respectively. [8] [9]

Post-election

Polls close at 21:00 and the votes are counted immediately. For national elections, the first results usually come within the first five minutes after the polls are closed (from the municipalities with the fewest inhabitants, Schiermonnikoog and Renswoude). The final results are generally known around midnight and semi-officially announced the next morning, after which the 150 seats are allocated. However, recounting over the course of the following days sometimes throws up minor shifts in the allocation of seats.

Seat assignment

The electorate in the Netherlands during the last general elections on the 17th of March 2021 was 13,293,186, of whom 78,7% voted, resulting in 10,462,677 votes (of which 10,422,852 valid votes). With 150 seats, that means a quota of 69,485 votes per seat, the so-called Hare quota. Since the election threshold is equal to the quota, that is also the number of votes required to get one seat in the House of Representatives.

However, the way residual seats are assigned, by using the D'Hondt method, a highest averages method, means that smaller parties are unlikely to get a residual seat, while larger parties have a bigger chance of getting one and may even get more than one. Firstly, numbers of seats are always rounded down, meaning there are always residual seats and parties that did not reach the quota do not get any seats (they do not take part in the following calculation). Next, the number of votes is divided by the assigned seats plus one. The party with the highest resulting number then gets one extra seat. Next, the process is repeated, with the party that got the extra seat participating again, albeit with a number one higher because they got an extra seat (the calculation stays the same for the other parties, which got no extra seat). But later on in the process, that party may get another extra seat. And since there are many parties in the House of Representatives, this is not unlikely to happen.

For example, in 2003 (see table here), the three biggest parties each got two of the six residual seats, even the VVD (150*0.179=26.85, but they got 28 seats, representing 18.7% of the seats instead of 17.9%), whereas the Socialist Party got none (150*0.063 = 9.45, but they got only 9 seats, representing 6% of the seats instead of 6.3%).

When the largest party gets over 35% of the votes and is considerably bigger than the next biggest party, that party may even get as much as 3 or even 4 residual seats. This has, however, never happened. The percentage of votes for the biggest party is usually around 30% and rarely goes far beyond that. The largest result ever was at the 1989 elections, when the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) got 35.3% of the votes. Even then, however, CDA only got two residual seats because next biggest party, the Labour Party (PvdA) had 31.9% of the votes. The biggest difference between the first and second party was at the 2002 elections, the most dramatic elections in Dutch history, when especially the PvdA lost many votes to the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF), which became second biggest after CDA with 17.0% of the votes. CDA, however, had received only 27.9% of the votes and was therefore still only assigned two residual seats.

Historically, parties had the option of forming an electoral alliance (lijstverbinding), in which case they would participate in the above calculations as one party and therefore increase their chance of being assigned residual seats. The allocation of those seats among the parties within a lijstverbinding was, however, done using the largest remainder method, which is more favourable toward smaller parties rather than the bigger ones if there is a considerable difference in size. But the overall advantage was greatest for small parties of comparable size. The option of forming a lijstverbinding was abolished in 2017. [10]

Assigning people to seats

After seats are allocated to the parties, candidates have to be assigned to the seats. For the purpose of general elections, the Netherlands is divided into twenty electoral districts. Parties can present different lists in each district. In theory, a party can place different candidates on each of the 20 different lists. However, it is usual that at least the candidate ranked first on the list is the same person throughout the country. It is even quite common that parties use the same list in every district, or vary only the last five candidates per district. Usually these five candidates are locally well known politicians, parties hope to attract extra votes with these candidates. However, because of their low position on the list, chances are low that these local candidates are elected.

The first step in the process of assigning people to the seats is calculating how many seats each of the different lists of a party gets, by adding the number of votes on each of the different lists together. If a party used the same list in more than one electoral district, these lists are seen as one list. Seat assignment to the different lists is done by using the largest remainder method.

The second step is calculating which candidate received on his or her own more votes than 25% of the electoral quota, by adding up all votes for a particular candidate on the different lists. These candidates are declared elected independent of the list order, and get one of the seats of the list where they received the most votes. If more candidates are elected on a list than the list received seats, the candidate with the lowest total number of votes is transferred to the list where he had his second best result.

As a third step, the remaining seats (if there are any) are assigned to the remaining candidates, based on their order on the list. When candidates are elected on more than one list in this way, the candidate gets the seat on the list where he or she received the most votes. This is continued until every seat is assigned. If one of these elected candidates later decides to leave parliament, then his seat is assigned to the next person on the list of the district he 'represents'.

An exception to the above exists in the form of lijstduwer ("list pushers"), famous people (former politicians, but also sports people) who are put on the candidate list but will not accept a seat when they get enough votes for one. During the municipal elections in 2006 professor Joop van Holsteyn criticised this practise, saying someone on a candidate list should also be a serious candidate. This view is shared by other political scientists, but less so by politicians, who say that lijstduwers are on the list not to get elected but to show that they support that party and that the fact that they are at the bottom of the list makes it obvious they are not intended to get a seat. Still, writer Ronald Giphart (1998) and skater Hilbert van der Duim (1994) got a municipal council seat, which Giphart refused to fill. Professor Rudy Andeweg says this is close to fraud because the law requires someone on the candidate list to declare in writing to be willing to fill a seat.

An example from the municipality of Oude IJsselstreek. The city council elections of 2010 resulted a total of 17,852 valid votes. The CDA party achieved 4,440 votes. Of the thirty CDA candidates on the list, 22 were given at least one vote each: [11]

  1. van de Wardt, P. 2061
  2. Aalbers-van Ham, A.A.F.J. 224
  3. Steentjes, B.W.J. 451
  4. Bergevoet, R.J.W.M. 245
  5. Tekinerdoğan, M. 417
  6. Ermers-Mulder, A.G.M. 66
  7. Hettinga, M.A.J. 99
  8. Toussaint, C.P. 29
  9. van Bergen, J.H. 37
  10. Berentschot, H.J. 77
  11. Hendriksen-Löverink, S.A.M. 150
  12. Büchner, A.C.A. 31
  13. Sorgedrager-Carreira da Cunha Sant'Anna Sorgedrager, M.P. 22
  14. Hakvoort, G.W.M. 219
  15. Lammers-te Lindert, E.H.A. 19
  16. Vesters, J.M.G.M. 28
  17. Rootmensen-Bulsink, J.W. 45
  18. Ross, A.G.M. 59
  19. Koskamp, A.H. 35
  20. Roelofs, W.T.H.M. 91
  21. Ernst, F.F.J. 15
  22. Löverink, B.A.S. 20

(The last number is the number of personal votes.)

As the total number of votes in the municipality is 17,852 and the council has 27 seats, 661 votes count for one seat. As the CDA has 4,440 votes it is entitled to seven seats.

First, it has to be checked who of the CDA candidates has more than a quarter of the kiesdeler. (661 divided by four makes 165 votes.) This is true for the candidates number 1, 3, 5, 4, 2 and 14 (in this order). Those six are elected.

Second, the rest of the CDA seats (one) is given to the person first on the list. As candidates number 1-5 already have seats, this last seat goes to number 6.

Referendums

From the entry into force of the Advisory Referendum Act (Wet raadgevend referendum) on 1 July 2015, until its repeal on 18 February 2018, most laws could be subjected to a consultative referendum after their approval, following a request by 300,000 people.

Before that date in principle, there was no permanent provision in law for a referendum. However, from 2002 until 2005, there was a Temporary Referendum Law in place, which allowed for non-binding referendums, known in Dutch as Volksraadpleging ("People's Consultation"), to be organised for laws already approved by the House of Representatives. No referendum was called based on this law.

In order to hold the 2005 referendum on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, a different law was temporarily put in place. That referendum was the first national referendum in the Netherlands since the 1805 referendum in Batavian Republic and it was the result of an initiative proposal by parliamentarians Farah Karimi (GroenLinks), Niesco Dubbelboer (Labour Party) and Boris van der Ham (Democrats 66).

Other elections

Water boards

Elections for the water boards have some similarities to other elections mentioned above, but also some distinctive differences. Similar to municipal elections, there are national parties and local parties, and the party list system is used with proportional representation. Residents of 18 and over can vote and elections take place every four years.

In contrast to other elections, not all members of the water board are chosen by the residents of the water board area. The members of each water board are divided into four categories: inhabitants, agriculture, nature and commercial. Only board members in the inhabitants category are chosen in direct elections, the members in the other categories are appointed by representing organisations, e.g. chambers of commerce in the commercial category. Since 2015, residents vote in person, just like in other elections, and they take place every four years, on the same day as the provincial elections. Before 2015, votes were cast by post, over a period of about two weeks.

Island councils

The elections for the Island councils for the special municipalities of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba take place at the same date as the provincial elections; [12] for the first time in 2015.

Latest elections

2023 general election

2023 Senate election

The Senate is elected indirectly, by the provincial councillors (who are themselves chosen in direct elections) and (in Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba) the electoral colleges for the Senate.

2023 provincial elections

In the 2023 provincial elections, BBB won a plurality all provinces.

2022 municipal elections

2019 European Parliament election

Next elections

The next elections in the Netherlands are planned for (in chronological order):

Election results and cabinets since World War II

The following tables show general election results and cabinets in the Netherlands since World War II. Per table, only parties that ever got seats over that period are listed (the number of participating parties in general elections is usually around 20).

The numbers give the number of seats for each party. After 1956 the total number of seats in parliament is 150, so a coalition needs at least 76 seats for a majority.

In each table, the parties are split in two or three groups; parties that have been in government, other still existing parties and extinct parties (if any in that table).
Within each group, the parties are grouped roughly according to the scheme left-wing – Christian – right-wing.

       columns
sc'seat change'; the number of seats that changed between parties. Merging parties are assumed to be the same as the new party
CabinetThe resulting cabinets (not necessarily in the same year)
TermThe duration of the term of that cabinet, in months, measured between inaugurations, so including the demissionary period after the next elections.
 %percentage of seats held by the government parties. (Note that the other numbers are not percentages but seats (for a total of 150, and 100 before 1956).)
       cells
boldparty in cabinet (government)
 -not enough votes to get a seat in parliament
        
party didn't exist then or did not participate nationally
        
no elections

In 2015, DENK split off from PvdA.
In 2016, BIJ1 split off from DENK.
In 2020, JA21 split off from FvD.

ElectionscCabinetTerm
(months)
 % PvdA D66 CU CDA VVD SP PvdD Volt BIJ1 DENK GL 50PLUS SGP BBB JA21 FvD PVV
2021 21 Rutte IV  ?52924515349631381313817
2017 38 Rutte III 49519195193314531443220
2012 23 Rutte II 605338125134115242315
2010 34 Rutte I (3)253530105213115210224
ElectionscCabinetTerm
(months)
 % PvdA D66 CU CDA VVD SP PvdD GrL SGP PVV CPN PSP PPR EVP DS70 RPF GPV BP LN AOV U55 CP CD LPF
2006 30 Balkenende IV 445333364122252729-
- Balkenende III (1)748426344289828
2003 24 Balkenende II 3852426344289828
2002 36 Balkenende I 1062237443249102<< CU226
1998 25 Kok II 476545142938511332
1994 34 Kok I 48613724343125232613
1989 8 Lubbers III 576949125422-63<< GrL121
1986 17 Lubbers II 40545295427-3-12-11--
1982 15 Lubbers I 44544764536-33321-211
- van Agt III (1)54344174826-3333-21
1981 14 van Agt II 87344174826-3333-21
1977 19 Van Agt I 45515384928-32131-11

In 1977, KVP, ARP and CHU merged into CDA.

DS'70 split off from PvdA
KNP is former Lijst Welter, which split off from KVP in 1948, but returned to that party in 1955
PvdV is the forerunner of VVD

ElectionscCabinetTerm
(months)
 %PvdADS70D66PPR KVP ARP CHU VVDCPNPSPSGPGPV RKPN BP NMP KNP PvdV
1972 20 Den Uyl (2)5565436672714722723213-
- Biesheuvel II (1)94939811235131016623212
1971 19 Biesheuvel I 135539811235131016623212
1967 15 De Jong 51573774215121754317
- Zijlstra (1)442435013131644313
- Cals 1971435013131644313
1963 9 Marijnen 2161435013131644313
1959 8 De Quay 50504849141219323--
- Beel II (1)551504915131373-
expansion from 100 to 150 seats85504915131373-
1956 7 Drees IV 26853433108942-
1952 6 Drees III 49813030129962-2
- Drees II 18762732139882-1
1948 4 Drees I 31762732139882-1
1946  ? Beel I 256129321381026
 ? Schermerhorn-Drees (2)13(no election - appointed by queen)
1940–1945: War cabinets without elections

(1) minority caretaker cabinet
(2) extra-parliamentary cabinet
(3) minority cabinet

See also

Related Research Articles

The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of the Netherlands</span> Political system of the Netherlands

The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy. A constitutional monarchy, the country is organised as a decentralised unitary state. The Netherlands can be described as a consociational state. Dutch politics and governance are characterised by a common striving for broad consensus on important issues, within both of the political community and society as a whole.

The Christian Union is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CU is a centrist party, maintaining more progressive stances on economic, immigration and environmental issues while holding more socially conservative positions on issues such as abortion and euthanasia. The party describes itself as "social Christian".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Democratic Appeal</span> Dutch political party

The Christian Democratic Appeal is a Christian-democratic and socially conservative political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolutionary Party and the Christian Historical Union; it has participated in all but three cabinets since it became a unitary party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Representatives (Netherlands)</span> Lower house of the Netherlands parliament

The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of the Netherlands, the States General, the other one being the Senate. It has 150 seats, which are filled through elections using party-list proportional representation. Generally, the house is located in the Binnenhof in The Hague, however, it has temporarily moved to the former building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Bezuidenhoutseweg 67 in the Hague while the Binnenhof is being renovated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Democrats 66</span> Political party in the Netherlands

Democrats 66 is a social liberal political party in the Netherlands, which positions itself in the centre of the political spectrum. It is a member of the Liberal International (LI) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socialist Party (Netherlands)</span> Dutch political party

The Socialist Party is a democratic socialist and social democratic political party in the Netherlands. Founded in 1971 as the Communist Party of the Netherlands/Marxist–Leninist, the party has since moderated itself from Marxism–Leninism and Maoism towards democratic socialism and social democracy. The SP has also been described as left-wing populist, far-left and Eurosceptic, and is an advocate of Dutch republicanism.

An election of Members of the European Parliament representing Netherlands constituency for the 2004–2009 term of the European Parliament was held on 10 June 2004. It was part of the wider 2004 European election. Fifteen parties competed in a D'Hondt type election for 27 seats..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Belgium</span> Political elections for public offices in Belgium

Elections in Belgium are organised for legislative bodies only, and not for executive functions. Direct elections take place for the European Parliament, the Chamber of Representatives, the Parliaments of the Regions, the Parliaments of the Communities, the provincial councils, the municipal councils and the councils of Districts of Antwerp. Voting is mandatory and all elections use proportional representation which in general requires coalition governments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political Party of Radicals</span> Political party in Netherlands

The Political Party of Radicals was a Christian-radical, progressive Christian and green political party in the Netherlands. The PPR played a relatively small role in Dutch politics and merged with other left-wing parties to form GreenLeft in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Dutch general election</span>

General elections were held in the Netherlands on 22 November 2006, following the fall of the Second Balkenende cabinet. The election proved relatively successful for the governing Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) which remained the largest party with 41 seats, a loss of only three seats. The largest increase in seats was for the Socialist Party (SP), which went from nine to 25 seats. The main opposition party, the social democratic Labour Party (PvdA) lost nine of its 42 seats, while the right-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and the progressive liberal Democrats 66 lost a considerable portion of their seats, six of 28 and three of six, respectively. New parties, such as the right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV) of former VVD MP Geert Wilders and the animal rights party Party for the Animals (PvdD) were also successful, with the PVV winning nine seats and the PvdD winning two, thereby becoming the first animal rights group to enter a European parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Dutch municipal elections</span> Dutch municipal elections

Municipal elections were held in the Netherlands on 7 March 2006. About 11.8 million people could vote in 419 municipalities. Due to local redistricting, 15 municipalities have already held elections in January 2006 and 24 municipalities will hold elections in November 2006. In some cities, such as Amsterdam, there were two elections, for the municipality and for the 'stadsdeelraden'.

An election of Members of the European Parliament representing Netherlands constituency took place on 4 June 2009. Seventeen parties competed in a D'Hondt type election for the available 25 seats. For the first time, all Dutch residents of the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba were also entitled to vote in the election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Dutch general election</span>

General elections were held in the Netherlands on Wednesday 15 March 2017 to elect all 150 members of the House of Representatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 European Parliament election in the Netherlands</span>

An election of the Members of the European Parliament from the Netherlands was held on 22 May 2014. This is the 8th time the elections have been held for the European elections in the Netherlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Dutch general election</span>

General elections were held in the Netherlands from 15 to 17 March 2021 to elect all 150 members of the House of Representatives. Following the elections and lengthy coalition formation talks, the sitting government remained in power.

Municipal elections were held on 21 March 2018 in 335 municipalities in the Netherlands. This election determined the composition of the municipal councils for the following four years. The election coincided with the Intelligence and Security Services Act referendum.

An election of the Members of the European Parliament from the Netherlands was held on 23 May 2019. It is the ninth time the elections have been held for the European elections in the Netherlands. The number of Dutch seats was 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 will remain at 26.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Songül Mutluer</span> Dutch politician (born 1979)

Songül Mutluer is a Dutch politician, serving as a member of the House of Representatives since 2022. She is a member of the Labour Party (PvdA) and has served as a Zaanstad municipal council member and alderwoman for fifteen years before. Having studied law, Mutluer has also worked as a legal professional and taught law at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

An election to the Dutch Senate was held on 30 May 2023. The 75 members of the Senate were elected by members of the provincial councils and electoral colleges elected two months earlier in provincial and electoral college elections.

References

  1. Article 64.4 of the Dutch constitution
  2. Tweede Kamer. "Kamerstuk Tweede Kamer 1984–1985 kamerstuknummer 18807 ondernummer 2" (in Dutch). Staten-Generaal Digitaal. p. 12. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  3. Dutch electoral law ("Kieswet") art. F1: "The nomination of candidates for the election of members of the House of Representatives, provincial councils, general council and municipal council will take place on Mondays in the period ..."; art. J1: "Voting will take place on the forty-fourth day after the nomination of candidates." 44 days after a Monday is a Wednesday. Art. F1 continues "If serious reasons connected with the day of nomination of candidates or the day of voting so require, a Royal Decree can be issued to determine that the nomination of candidates will take place on the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday before the day referred to ..."
  4. "Elections". European Parliament. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  5. Jacobs, B.; Pieters, W. (2009). "Electronic Voting in the Netherlands: From Early Adoption to Early Abolishment". Foundations of Security Analysis and Design V. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 5705. p. 121. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.159.9956 . doi:10.1007/978-3-642-03829-7_4. ISBN   978-3-642-03828-0.
  6. "Wij vertrouwen stemcomputers niet". Archived from the original on 16 December 2008.
  7. "EenVandaag :: het nieuws- en actualiteiten programma van AVROTROS op NPO 1".
  8. "Benoeming, vacatures en ontslag burgemeesters (in Dutch)". Rijksoverheid.nl. Netherlands Giovernment. 12 October 2010. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2018.
  9. "Benoeming en herbenoeming commissaris van de Koning (in Dutch)". politiekeambtsdragers.nl. Rijksoverheid. 21 September 2023. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  10. "Per 1 december geen lijstverbindingen meer". Parlement & Politiek (in Dutch). 9 November 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
  11. "Uitslag gemeenteraadsverkiezingen". Archived from the original on 7 March 2010.
  12. (in Dutch) Kiesraad about eilandsraden Archived 24 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine