Amsterdam council election results running late; Turnout up slightly in 4 years
Volunteers began their interim count of votes cast in Amsterdam during the 2026 City Council Elections soon after the polls closed at 9 p.m. The city had hoped to release a provisional projection at 11 p.m. after about half of all ballots were counted, but that was expected to be delayed by up to two hours. Voter turnout was provisionally reported at 46.9 percent, an increase of just 0.3 percentage points since 2022, but still far too low, said Mayor Femke Halsema.
No exit polls were planned for the capital. The first total count of all ballots in Amsterdam was expected to wrap up on Thursday morning, though Amsterdam is often among the last municipalities to release election results. About 70 percent of ballots cast during Wednesday's election were likely to be counted by 1 a.m., reported ANP.
The first vote count is a straight tally on a per-party basis. On Saturday, ballots will be counted again to get the total number of preferential votes cast per candidate, a spokesperson told the newswire.
The municipality said voter turnout was about 46.9 percent. That corresponds to about 345,882 of the 737,489 residents of Amsterdam and Weesp eligible to vote in the City Council election. This election was scheduled for one day, as opposed to the three days needed for the 2022 process during the coronavirus pandemic.
"We are pleased that the turnout has stabilized compared to four years ago, but we really consider it too low. We will make every effort in the coming years to get more people to the polls," Halsema told Parool.
Tens of thousands more residents were not permitted to vote in the main election, but were added to the voter roles to select their representatives for district council. Roughly 332,611 dropped a ballot for their respective districts, for a turnout rate of 42.5 percent.
