EU poll results: D66 big, PVV lose

The current results from polls of the European Parliamentary elections of Thursday pin the D66 as the big winner in the Netherlands, while previously expected winner PVV is dropping in perceived popularity. This comes from an exit-poll done by the website GeenStijl. The site collected almost 200,000 votes from hundreds of polling stations thanks to volunteers. GeenStijl says they have been able to calculate around 15 percent of the votes cast. In their results, the D66 is predicted to win as the only party with five seats. If this works out in reality, then the D66 will, for the first time in history, become the biggest party. "The Netherlands has chosen en masse for Europe", said D66 leader Alexander Pechtold on Thursday, Elsevier reports. In the poll from GeenStijl, the CDA follows the D66 with four seats, the PvdA both seem to have three seats and the SP as well, but the latter could still drop to two. Despite earlier predictions placing Geert Wilders' PVV party at the top, the party seems to be losing. The party's five seats from the last elections are dropping to three, maybe four, according to the poll. Wilders claims the loss is due to low voter-turnout, but this does not seem likely. Since 1989, the 37 percent voter-turnout has not been this high, bar one other time. According to GeenStijl, the Party for Animals has won a seat for the first time ever in the European Parliament. Other polls also predict that Anja Hazekamp's party will have one seat. The position 50PLUS is still contested in various polls. Ipsos calculates that the party will have seats, but GeenStijl predicts that the party will just lose out. Ipsos also pegs D66 at the top, but with four seats instead of five, at 15.6 percent of the vote. The CDA will also get four seats according to the Ipsos poll, 1ith 15.2 percent of the vote. The poll gives the VVD and PVV slightly more than 12 percent of the vote. The definitive results of the elections will be announced on Sunday evening, when all EU member states have voted.