Dutch EU election turnout hits highest point since 1989, but fewer than half voted

An estimated 46.8 percent of eligible voters in the Netherlands cast a ballot in the 2024 European Parliament elections, according to an exit poll from Ipsos I&O and NOS. Once verified, that will be the highest figure since the 1989 election, when 47.48 percent voted.

In the last European election in 2019, about 41.93 percent of the Dutch electorate voted. The total was even lower five years earlier, at 37.32 percent, and in 2009 the turnout was at 36.75 percent.

Enthusiasm also seemed to be higher this year in three of the four largest cities. The city of Amsterdam reported a turnout of 45.8 percent on Thursday, compared to 45.3 percent in 2019. Rotterdam saw a slight decrease from 33.9 to 33.8 percent. In the third largest city, The Hague, about 40.4 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot. That was an increase from 39.0 percent in 2019.

Utrecht showed a strong turnout over the course of the day. About 55.9 percent of eligible voters in the fourth largest city cast a ballot on Thursday, up from 50.8 percent five years ago.

European Parliament elections have always had a low turnout compared to the Dutch General Election. Voter turnout was 77.8 percent in the November election for the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch Parliament. Since the 1970s, turnout in the Tweede Kamer elections range from a low of 73.3 percent in 1998 to a high of 88.0 percent in 1977

The worst turnout in an EU election in the Netherlands was 30.02 percent in 1999. The highest was 58.12 percent in 1979.