Almost 40,000 blank ballots were cast in the early parliamentary elections in the Netherlands yesterday. This is about 0.4% of the voters and twice as many as in the previous elections in November 2023. Since the introduction of the new counting method in 2010, so many blank ballots have not been cast, N.O.S. television reported, BTA reported.
In the case of a blank vote, a person casts a ballot but intentionally does not mark a choice. In this way, the vote does not go to any party, but the voter is counted as having participated in the elections. A blank vote is often seen as a protest, according to N.O.S. According to the website “New“ a blank ballot could mean that the voter did not find any party that matched their beliefs and values.
Also, almost 26,000 votes were invalid. This could be due to the fact that people marked more than one choice or wrote something on the ballot.
The total number of blank and invalid votes in these elections would be enough for about one mandate.
Exactly one mandate is the difference in the result between the pro-European social-liberal party Democrats 66 (D66) and the far-right Party for Freedom: about 95% of the vote count showed the two parties would have an equal number of MPs (26), while exit polls gave D66 27 MPs and Geert Wilders’ party – 25. The change in mandates comes from the threshold in the electoral system - at least 0.67% of the votes cast in the entire country. There is also a change in the seats for two other parties: the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy and the Christian Democratic Appeal lose one seat each compared to the first forecast: the Liberals have 22 seats, and the Christian Democrats - 18.
Although not all votes have been counted, it is clear that the difference between D66 and the Freedom Party is minimal. According to the latest data released in the media, D66 received 1,720,578 votes, and the Freedom Party - 1,718,200 votes, which is a difference of 2,378 votes.
The difference in the number of deputies (and votes) between the largest parties has never been so small since 1956, when the Lower House of Parliament had 150 seats, recalls NOS. Never before have the two largest parties received the same number of seats. However, three times the difference was only one seat. The last time this happened was in 2010. It happened in 1956 and 1959.
If D66 and the Freedom Party do indeed win 26 seats each, then the number of votes will determine which party is the largest and therefore which can try to form a government first.
Based on the exit poll, newspapers are identifying Rob Yetten as the big winner and highlighting the Netherlands' return to the center.
D66 leader Rob Yetten is depicted on almost all front pages. “D66 flag!“, reads the headline of “De Telegraf“. “Yeten is the big winner“, reads the headline of “Volkskrant“. “Return to the center“, writes "Algemeine Dagblad", which speaks of a “historic victory“ for D66.
According to the latest data, the voter turnout is 78.4%, which is more than the previous election in November 2023 (77.8%). Until 1970, voting in elections was mandatory and the voter turnout percentage fluctuated around 94. Since then, voter turnout has been lower. The historical minimum was in 1998, when 73.3% of people voted, NOS recalls.
The data from the final count are expected later today, and the official results will be announced by the Election Board on November 7.