Nearly 100,000 Dutch nationals registered as voters abroad

Nearly 100,000 Dutch people living outside the Netherlands will be able to cast a ballot in the Tweede Kamer election in November. They are registered as voters for the November 22 election, which will determine the composition of the lower house of Parliament.

That number can still increase. People have about five weeks left to register, with registration set to close on October 11. The election will take place six weeks after voter abroad registration closes.

Those Dutch people abroad who decide to cast a ballot will have their votes counted by the municipality of The Hague. The city said that 98,841 people are now included in a permanent registry of people who automatically receive a paper ballot at home by post before the elections.

They then have to send it to the municipality of The Hague, to an embassy or a consulate. For the last few years, people living abroad only have to register one time. Formerly, those citizens who emigrated had to re-register for every election cycle.

In the previous Tweede Kamer election in 2021, a total of 92,772 Dutch citizens from abroad were allowed to vote. In the end, 63,502 people took advantage of that opportunity, a turnout of about 68 percent.

Those voting from abroad in 2021 cast their ballots mainly for the VVD, D66, and GroenLinks. In the parliamentary elections of 2017, a total of 80,066 voters were registered as living abroad.