Parliamentary elections heading for new record number of parties participating

In three weeks, it will become clear how many parties want to participate in the parliamentary election on November 22. August 28 is the last day that political parties can register their name with the Electoral Council. Then it will become clear whether this election will break the record for most parties who want to enter parliament. 37 parties participated in the 2021 parliamentary elections, the highest number since 2002.

In the 2021 elections, 17 parties got enough votes to enter the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament. Due to various divisions during this government’s term of office, the Tweede Kamer now counts 21 parliamentary factions, including six one-person factions.

Since 2002, the number of parties in the parliamentary elections has grown from 16 to 37 in 2021, according to figures from Parlement.com. In the last regular election in 2017, 28 parties participated, and 13 factions entered the Kamer.

After November 22, it will become clear whether this fragmentation will continue.

All eyes are now mainly focused on parliamentarian Pieter Omtzigt, who is expected to announce in the week of August 21 whether he will participate with his own party. It is also unclear whether Nilüfer Gündoğan, who split from Volt, will continue with her own party. 50Plus, not currently in parliament, has announced that it wants to participate again.

In the latest poll by I&O Research, Omtzigt could end up with 46 seats with his own party. It would be a massive job for a starting party to come up with 46 good candidates from scratch.

Omtzigt could choose to participate in a limited number of constituencies. Parties do not have to participate in all 20 constituencies. If he chooses this, his party can only win a limited number of seats. The party can then grow in a controlled manner.

Suppose Omtzigt participates in five electoral districts. Then, all those votes are added together to form a national number of votes. The total number of votes cast for all participating parties is divided by the 150 seats in the Tweede Kamer (electoral quota), which determines the number of seats per party.

The MP can also choose to participate in all electoral districts but with a limited list of candidates. If his party receives many more votes and seats than the number on the list of candidates, the remaining seats would be divided among the other parties. There is little chance that Omtzigt will opt for this scenario.

Participating parties must indicate by October 9 which of the 20 constituencies they wish to participate in.