[Nicky91]

Nearly 13.6 million can vote in municipal election; Voting aid consulted 1.8 million times

Nearly 13.6 million people can cast their votes in this year's municipal election. 334 of the 345 municipalities are participating, and there are 8,235 council seats to fill. Online voting aid MijnStem, which is available for 253 municipalities, was consulted at least 1.8 million times in the run-up to the elections.

To promote the spread of voters and prevent overcrowded polling stations, the voting locations opened for three days, like during the parliamentary elections last year. On Monday and Tuesday, voters could go to over 1,700 polling stations. Today around 8,800 polling stations are open, most between 7:30 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Face masks are not mandatory in the polling stations, and there is no need to maintain social distancing. Still, municipalizes set up the stations so that people can stay 1.5 meters apart.

Although 334 municipalities participate in the election, votes are cast for 333 councils. Residents of Weesp vote for the city council of Amsterdam, which they're joining this year. Eleven municipalities aren't having municipal elections today. In eight of these, council elections happened recently due to reclassifications. These are Eemsdelta, Boxtel, Vught, and Oisterwijk in 2020, and Maashorst, Land van Cuijk, Pumerend, and Dijk en Waard in 2021. The municipalities of Brielle, Westvoorne, and Hellevoetsluis will hold elections later. They're merging as of 1 January 2023.

A total of 2,971 parties are participating in the elections - 1,776 national parties and 1,095 local parties. A total of 45,994 candidates compete for 8,235 city council seats. There are at least three candidates for every seat up for grabs in the election. The number of municipal council seats depends on the number of residents. Eight municipalities have the highest number of seats possible, namely 45.

Almost all Netherlands residents over the age of 18 can vote. People can also vote if they come from a European Union member state or a non-EU country and have lived here for at least five years. People from outside the EU who have lived here for less than five years are not allowed to vote. This is most common in Amstelveen, where a tenth of the population can't vote. Wageningen and Diemen also have a relatively large number of residents who can't vote. Inmates are also allowed to vote. This is usually done by proxy but can also be done in person if they have leave for the day or if a polling station has been set up in the penitentiary.

To vote, you need a valid voting pass and valid proof of identity. An ID is valid for voting if it didn't expire more than five years ago.

https://nltimes.nl/2022/03/16/nearly...-million-times


tonight as of 20:30 PM CET, all night the results on dutch channel NPO1 by NOS

[Nicky91]

although it are regional elections, the results might already say something how public thinks of the current newly chosen parliament

[Nicky91]

if Forum got any votes it would really shock and upset me

after what moronic clown Baudet said regarding Putin, how he is pro-putin, finding him a ''nice man''


reminder this Baudet should never ever become PM here, otherwise we got our own little dictator

[Nicky91]

https://nltimes.nl/2022/03/17/histor...cipal-election

Historic Low turnout, just over 50% voted in municipal election

The turnout for the 2022 municipal elections stands at 50.3 percent, with all the votes counted in 327 municipalities, and several other cities still adding up their ballots. The possible record low figure was measured with roughly 98.5 percent of votes counted nationally, according to ANP's Election Service. In the previous municipal elections in 2018, 54.1 percent of eligible voters voted.

It is too early to say why the turnout was lower this year, Minister Hanke Bruins Slot of Home Affairs said. "For us, it is essential in the analysis to look at: what are the causes of the low turnout."

Relatively speaking, the lowest turnout appeared to be in Rotterdam, where 38.9 percent of voters cast a ballot. Roosendaal in Noord-Brabant, Almere, and Tilburg also showed a turnout below 40 percent. The highest turnout results were in Schiermonnikoog (80.2 percent), Rozendaal (80.0), Staphorst (75.4), and Urk (75.2).

Compared to 2018, the turnout decreased the most in Lelystad, Waddinxveen, and Brunssum. In Lelystad, the turnout fell from 51 percent in 2018 to 41 percent. Twenty-eight municipalities saw their turnout increase compared to four years ago. In 294 municipalities, fewer people voted than in the previous municipal elections.

Minister Bruins Slot said she hopes to get a "better picture" of the turnout throughout the country. She said it is not yet clear whether "local circumstances or national matters" were at play.

Fewer blank votes and invalidated ballots were cast this year. Blank ballots decreased by 35 percent and invalidated ballots by 39 percent. Some people cast a blank vote to indicate that they do not consider any candidate suitable. Blank and invalid ballots count for determining the turnout, but not the election results.

Due to the coronavirus, the elections were spread out over several days. "The picture so far is that the elections have gone well, at least in many places," said Bruins Slot. Due to Covid-19, many municipalities "had to make quite a lot of effort in the last phase to ensure that there were enough volunteers at the polling stations."

Man volunteers called in sick with the coronavirus. According to Bruins Slot, it is "special to see how municipalities managed" to get things together. She also called it "amazing" that tens of thousands of volunteers staffed polling stations over the past few days to ensure that everyone could vote.

[Nicky91]

Rotterdam: winners there are local party Leefbaar Rotterdam

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/0...winners-again/

The Hague: winner there is Groep De Mos, of former PVV member Richard de Mos but D66 gains most votes out of all bigger parties from current parliament

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/0...es-most-gains/


Utrecht: GroenLinks a narrow win but coalition will be quite the puzzle there

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/0...l-be-a-puzzle/

Eindhoven: coalition of VVD, CDA, GroenLinks, PVDA keeps the majority but GroenLinks and not VVD are the biggest party there

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/0...rtake-the-vvd/

Amsterdam: PVDA come from behind to win, and clearing way for a left leaning coalition

https://www.dutchnews.nl/news/2022/0...ing-coalition/