Irregularities during last week's local elections have led to widespread concern about the soundness of the Dutch voting system and the first ever recount in a major city.
The Labour Party remains the winner in the Rotterdam local council elections following the recount of the more than 200,000 votes cast in Wednesday's local election. Hundreds of civil servants counted ballots for more than 16 hours in a sports centre, only to find that the Labour Party increased its lead of its local rival Livable Rotterdam. But it's a small difference of around 700 votes.
But the small margin of victory was not the only reason for the recount. A documentary film crew shot some video of a less-than-orderly polling station, where among other things the voting privacy was not upheld.
Questionable practices
This opened the floodgates, and reports have been pouring in from Rotterdam and elsewhere of illegal and questionable practices. These included the following:
Questionable practices
This opened the floodgates, and reports have been pouring in from Rotterdam and elsewhere of illegal and questionable practices. These included the following:
- More than one person in voting booth
- Intimidation in voting places
- Filling in another person's ballot
- Voting bureau workers giving voting advice
- A party poster in a voting bureau
- Collecting ballot papers from non-voters to vote for your own party
The deputy minister in charge of elections, Ank Bijleveld, is looking into these complaints. Time is of the essence, because preparations are already underway for parliamentary elections on the 9th of June.
As a director of a thinktank on multi-party issues Roel van Meijenfeldt has observed elections in many countries and he says the irregularities here in the Netherlands are not comparable to what happens in new democracies.
As a director of a thinktank on multi-party issues Roel van Meijenfeldt has observed elections in many countries and he says the irregularities here in the Netherlands are not comparable to what happens in new democracies.
"Voting was very peaceful. But because of the polarisation in the political arena in the Netherlands, the elections are contested very closely. That has to do with the situation that now people are trying to influence the elections. That's a feature you find all around the world."
Wake-up call
Nevertheless, the irregularities here in the Netherlands are worrysome. And Mr Meijenfeldt is going to help make sure the upcoming parliamentary elections are conducted in a free and fair manner:
Nevertheless, the irregularities here in the Netherlands are worrysome. And Mr Meijenfeldt is going to help make sure the upcoming parliamentary elections are conducted in a free and fair manner:
"The wake-up call is very helpful. We have partners on various continents and countries, like Ghana, Kenya, Bolivia and Indonesia. We'll invite our partners, the political parties in those countries to be in the Netherlands at the time of the elections, so they can also monitor the Dutch system. So we make it totally reciprocal."
As for the stalemate in Rotterdam, today's recount results are not the end of the story. Liveable Rotterdam's Marco Pastors has not accepted the outcome. He'll hold out until the committee looking into other violations has reported its findings.
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