Utrecht, Groningen see highest early turnout in Municipal Elections voting
The first voter turnout in the Municipal Elections is trickling through after the first few hours of voting. Utrecht has registered over 15 percent of a voter turnout thus far, the highest out of the large cities in the country. This has amounted to 47,863 votes that have been cast thus far. Groningen also had a high early turnout at 15.2 percent.
Amsterdam had not provided tallies regarding its voters as of noon on Wednesday, but several other cities were updating the public and the news media more frequently. Groningen has had a high early turnout with 15.2 percent of eligible voters having cast a vote. At least 30,409 votes have been cast in the city.
Rotterdam had a low turnout in the early morning hours, with 11 percent of eligible voters casting a vote. Rotterdam Mayor Carola Schouten promised to abseil down the Euromast despite her fears of heights if the voter turnout proves to be higher than in 2022. Prime Minister Rob Jetten has said he will join her if the voter turnout nationwide proves to be higher than four years ago.
In the 2022 municipal elections, national turnout dropped to 51 percent, marking a record low. For comparison, turnout in 2006 had been 59 percent.
In an effort to engage young voters, certain polling stations in The Hague opened at midnight on the Grote Markt. By 1:00 a.m., 220 people had cast their ballots, compared with just 140 during the 2018 late-night opening.
A total of 24,279 votes have been cast in Eindhoven, 12.7 percent of the electorate.
Tilburg at 10 a.m. was well below the figures compared to March 16, 2022. As of 10 a.m., 7 percent had turned out, versus 12.3 percent four years earlier; that election was spread out over several days. “Due to coronavirus measures, it was already possible to vote on Mondays and Tuesdays in 2022. Those voters were also included in the figures from that time,” the city wrote in a statement.
In Enschede, about 6 percent of voters had shown up in the first few hours after polls opened. Roughly 7,764 ballots were turned in by 10 a.m.
By 10:00 a.m. in Haaksbergen, 7.7 percent of residents had cast their votes in the referendum on asylum seeker reception. In comparison, turnout for the municipal elections was slightly higher at 8.6 percent. Haaksbergen residents face four questions regarding asylum seeker reception, including whether they prefer a single location or multiple sites for housing asylum seekers.
A total of 737,489 people are eligible to vote in Amsterdam, including those living in Weesp, which is now part of the larger municipality. Nearly 50,000 individuals who are ineligible to vote for the full City Council are able to cast a ballot for representation in their respective district councils.
Over 14.2 million people are eligible to vote in the Netherlands. Residents must be registered in a Dutch municipality, at least 18 years old, hold EU citizenship, or have lived in the Netherlands for at least five years.
It was estimated by Statistics Netherlands that around 820,000 young people will be voting for the first time on this Election Day.
