Nearly 900,000 Dutch citizens abroad have minimal impact on Tweede Kamer elections

Nearly 890,000 Dutch citizens living abroad could influence the Tweede Kamer elections, but only a small fraction vote, reducing their impact to one or two of 150 seats, AD reports.

Voting procedures are complicated, Eelco Keij, chairman of the Foundation for Dutch Citizens Abroad (SNBN), told AD. “The procedures are bureaucratic and unclear. Mail from Spain can take a month. There’s a postal strike in Canada. In the U.S., Dutch orange envelopes were treated as suspicious and set aside.”

Only 135,000 have registered to vote, and typically about two-thirds of those cast ballots. Political science professor Henk van der Kolk told AD, “A large group doesn’t even know they are allowed to vote from abroad. And many people are unaware they first need to register to receive their ballots.” Some also feel disconnected from the Netherlands after living abroad for years.

Eelco Keij from SNBN advocates an emigration package with voting information and a trial for digital voting. Parties D66 and Volt support such a test.

Professor van der Kolk said the complex system balances security and convenience. “Simplification is possible, but it cannot compromise reliability.”

Voting trends abroad differ from domestic patterns. In 2023, PvdA-GL received 28 percent abroad versus 15 percent in the Netherlands. PVV received 23 percent domestically but just 6 percent abroad. “Dutch abroad are often internationally oriented and work in organizations like the EU or UN,” Van der Kolk told AD.