Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht voter turnout below dismal 2022 local election

Voter turnout for the municipal elections in the four largest cities of the Netherlands remained low at the start of the evening on Wednesday, compared to a similar point in 2022. Although this year’s council elections were organized on a single day, the previous was spread out over a three-day period to prevent crowds from gathering during the coronavirus pandemic.

In the capita, a total of 32.1 percent of eligible voters have voted in the elections by 6 p.m., the city said. That is significantly lower than in 2022, when 34 percent had voted by this time.

About 236,735 have voted out of 737,489 eligible to vote for both the City Council and their district council in Amsterdam. About 16.4 percent had voted for City Council by 1:30 p.m.

The voter turnout in Rotterdam is even lower. Despite a promise by Carola Schouten to rappel down the Euromast if the city achieved a higher voter turnout compared to 2022, a total of 28.4 percent had voted by 6 p.m. compared to 31.6 in the previous elections. The Hague also has a lower voter turnout compared to 2022 by that time. In 2022, around 43 percent had voted by that time, with only 36.6 casting their votes by 6 p.m.. A total of 160,530 votes had been cast by this time.

Other large cities in the Netherlands have experienced better voting percentages. A total of 42.8 percent of Utrecht’s eligible voters had already voted by 6 p.m., amounting to 125,777 votes, although this is also lower than in 2022 when roughly 44.9 percent had voted by that time.

Groningen has also had high participation by 6 p.m., with 41.5 percent of voters casting their ballot. Eindhoven was significantly lower than these two cities, with 31.5 percent voting in their local elections by this time.

Noordwijk, located close to The Hague, saw roughly 41 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot by 5:45 p.m. That was well below the 58 percent recorded by this point four years earlier.

Tilburg reported very similar figures compared to 2022, with 26 percent having voted by 4 p.m., just 0.2 percentage points lower than the last election. The city was due to provide an updated tally around 7 p.m.

Enschede also showed a disappointing turnout figure of 28.1 percent at 5 p.m. While turnout was higher in Sittard-Geleen, it was still trending well below the results from the previous local election. Some 35 percent cast a ballot by 5 p.m., compared to 40 percent in 2022.

Meanwhile, it was not yet clear if a referendum on the establishment of a reception center for those seeking asylum would have a significant impact on Haaksbergen, Overijssel. Some 28.9 percent of eligible voters showed up at the polls by 4 p.m., and 27.7 percent had cast a vote for the special referendum.

Four years ago, a total of 10,951 residents in the town voted by the time the polls closed at 9 p.m. That equated to a turnout of 55.33 percent.