Voting passes not delivered to 13 Utrecht streets; Mayor pressing charges

Mayor Sharon Dijksma of the municipality of Utrecht is pressing charges over undelivered voting passes for the Provincial Council and water board elections. Thirteen streets in the Overvecht and Voordorp districts didn’t get their voting passes. About 1,160 voters live on those streets.

A resident reported to the municipality on February 20 that he and his neighbors had not received their voting passes. The city asked PostNL to investigate. The company found that one delivery person did not deliver all their mail, including the voting passes, in 13 streets.

The investigation did not discover what happened to the undelivered mail, and therefore also the voting passes. A spokesperson for the municipality could not say how many eligible voters did not get their voting passes.

“I take the non-delivery of the voting passes very seriously,” Dijksma wrote in a letter to the city council. “Given the severity of the situation, a report will be made to the police.” Because PostNL couldn’t figure out what happened to the undelivered post, the municipality will also investigate whether there has been a data breach.

The municipality will send new voting passes to the affected streets immediately to ensure they arrive on time for the election. They will be accompanied by a letter explaining what happened.