page_title: Elections in the Netherlands
section_title: Election
hierarchical_section_title: Elections in the Netherlands / Election
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Verkiezingen. De leden van het stembureau tellen de stemmen na de verkiezingen voor de Tweede Kamer, Amsterdam 1913.
context_page_description: Elections in the Netherlands are held for five territorial levels of government: the European Union, the state, the twelve Provinces, the 25 water boards and the 355 municipalities. Apart from elections, referenda were also held occasionally, but have been removed from the law in 2018. The most recent national election results and an overview of the resulting seat assignments and coalitions since World War II are shown at the bottom of this page.
  At the national level, legislative power is invested in the States General, which is bicameral. The House of Representatives has 150 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation. Elections are also called after a dissolution of the House of Representatives. All elections are direct, except for the Senate, which has 75 members, elected for a four-year term by provincial councillors on the basis of proportional representation at the provincial elections.
  The Netherlands has a multi-party system, with numerous parties, in which usually no one party ever secures an overall majority of votes, so that several parties must cooperate to form a coalition government.
context_section_description: For all elections polling is organised on the basis of municipalities. In each municipality there are multiple voting stations, usually in communal buildings, such as churches, schools, and more recently, railway stations. There are two different systems: using the call-to-vote card (oproepkaart) or a voting pass (stempas). With the oproepkaart, voters may vote, using this card, only at their nearest voting station, or if lost, their identity card. With a stempas, users may vote at any station in their municipality, but must have the pass with them. If it is lost, a replacement can be requested, but only until a few days before the elections. A stempas (of different type) can also be requested to vote in a different municipality.
  When arriving at a voting station, voters hand in their card or pass to one of the three attendants of the voting station, who checks the card, cancels it, issues ballot papers to the voter, and directs him or her to the polling-booth.
  Dutch citizens living abroad are able to vote by registering in advance and then using a postal vote.  The results are counted by the municipality of The Hague and included in its own results.  In 2006, they could vote over the internet via the Rijnland Internet Election System, but in 2008 security concerns led to a law against Internet voting.
  Voting is done in one of two ways: manually marking a ballot paper with a red pencil or electronically, using a voting machine. In 2005, almost all municipalities planned to abandon pencil-and-paper voting. However, serious doubts were raised over the inviolability of the computers used from potential vote tampering and electronic eavesdropping. This led to a run on foreign voting machines and reintroduction of the red pencil in some municipalities in 2006, occasionally using converted medical waste disposal containers as voting boxes.
  For mayoral and gubernatorial positions, the Netherlands is one of the few countries in Europe where no elections are held. Instead, they are appointed by the Crown.
caption: Vote counting at Dutch elections in 1913
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