Gorinchem to rerun municipal elections after possible voter fraud

A narrow majority of the Gorinchem municipal council wants a full re-vote due to suspicions of voter fraud in the municipal elections earlier this month. Eligible voters will have to go to the polls again, the municipal council decided during a meeting overnight. A re-vote for municipal elections is very rare.

The Zuid-Holland municipality announced last week that there are suspicions of voter fraud. Mayor Reinie Melissant said she had received over 10 reports about irregularities, including a candidate showing up at a polling station multiple times with voters holding several proxies. The mayor filed charges of multiple forms of election fraud, including influence and solicitation of proxies.

The council was divided on whether to hold a partial or full re-vote. Ultimately, 13 council members supported a full revote, while 12 voted against.

“A new date will be set,” the mayor said. “All eligible voters may go to the polls again. She called it of great importance that trust “in politics and in each other” is restored. “We are going to work on that together, and it starts now.”

The re-vote must happen within 30 days of the decision. It requires making arrangements to use the polling stations again and finding volunteers to staff them, the Electoral Council previously pointed out. New voting cards must also be sent out. The mayor intends to announce the new election date “sometime this week” because there is “no time to lose,” Melissant told ANP.

The current municipal council will remain in office until the new council is elected. For the re-vote, the candidate lists are the same as on March 18. On that day, 15,854 people cast their votes in Gorinchem, a turnout of 51 percent.

The police and Public Prosecution Service (OM) are investigating the fraud allegations. The investigation may take months.

There are no rules preventing someone suspected or convicted of fraud from becoming or remaining a municipal councillor. ChristenUnie-SGP, together with Gorcum Actief and the CDA, therefore submitted a motion calling on the council to attach political consequences to the results of the OM’s investigation. The motion was adopted unanimously.