More women on municipal councils, partly thanks to preference votes

Over 36 percent of the newly elected municipal councilors are women. Before the elections on March 16, this was still 31 percent. In the 70 largest municipalities, the proportion of women in the municipal council is even higher, the Stichting Stem op een Vrouw reported.

According to the organization, "the growth is not due to more equality on the election lists, but thanks to the voter." The foundation calculated that 459 female councilors who were in an "unelectable" position nevertheless entered the municipal council thanks to preferential votes.

Before the March 16 elections, seven municipalities had a majority of women in the council. Now there are 24, including Wageningen, Delft, Zwolle, Utrecht, Leeuwarden, and Nijmegen.

All municipalities now have at least one woman on the city council. Before the elections, there was still one municipality with not a single woman. The share of women is lowest in the councils of Terschelling, Steenbergen, and the Gelderland municipalities of Druten and West Maas en Maal.

Across the political spectrum, smart votes were cast for women," the Stichting Stem op een Vrouw said in a press release. Preferential votes put 14 women in city councils for ChristenUnie, 53 for CDA, 61 for D66, 39 for PvdA, 76 for GroenLinks, and 37 for the VVD.