Dutch government establishing an organization to fight foreign influence on elections

The Dutch government wants to do more to combat foreign influence during elections, Minister Pieter Heerma of Interior (CDA) told parliament on Thursday. He is establishing an organization focused on doing just that. He also announced that the Cabinet would introduce a smaller ballot starting with the European Parliament elections in 2029, and would investigate the system of voting by proxy following the election fraud in Gorinchem.

“I am working on legislation and the establishment of an organization that can systematically detect foreign information manipulation and interference,” Heerma wrote to parliament. Around the time of the municipal elections, there were reports that voters were being influenced from abroad by fake information online. Similar organizations already exist in France, Germany, and Sweden, he said.

The smaller ballot will be launched after successful tests in various municipalities during the past three elections. The results have been predominantly positive. The new ballot only lists the parties and numbers, no longer the names of candidates. When voting, voters must fill in the box for the party they are voting for and the box corresponding to their preferred candidate’s number. The names and numbers will be available at the polling station.

The trials showed that the percentage of invalid votes was slightly higher on the smaller ballot, often due to errors when ticking the candidate number. Heerma intends to ensure that these votes can also be counted. If the voter chose a party but an invalid candidate number, the vote will go to the leading candidate of the chosen party.

The last trial with the smaller ballot happened during the municipal elections in March. Heerma’s predecessor had already announced that the new ballot would be introduced nationwide if this test also proved successful. This will now happen in 2029. According to Heerma, launching the small ballot sooner is impossible because the Electoral Act still needs to be amended.

The Minister is also having an investigation conducted into the system of voting by proxy after election fraud in Gorinchem during the parliamentary election in March. Residents of the Zuid-Holland town were pressured into issuing a proxy. The municipality eventually reran the election. Six people have been arrested.

The investigation will not only focus on what happened in Gorinchem, but on the risk of abuse of the system as a whole, and what measures can be taken.

According to Heerma, the situation in Gorinchem also showed that the system works well. “It was identified that there may be a case of voter solicitation, and a report was filed.”