Municipal redivision elections are being held today in several places in the Netherlands, such as in Vught and Appingedam. These first ‘corona elections’ are an important test for the upcoming elections for the House of Representatives.
Minister Ollongren said earlier that the elections just continue, but that the virus is probably still there. All kinds of measures are therefore necessary.
Millions of votes by mail
Three people will soon be authorized to cast their votes. Now there are two more. Another plan is to have all people over 70, a total of about 2.4 million people, vote by post. That way, they don’t have to risk their health with going to a polling station.
The Electoral Council, the body that organizes the elections, is critical of this plan. “Not all people over 70 want to vote by mail. There will also be people who just want to go to a polling station. We expect that many ballots will be sent incorrectly and not used at all,” said a spokesman for the Electoral Council. Notes could start to roam.
Request in advance
The Electoral Council’s counter-proposal: let anyone who wants to vote by post, regardless of age, request it in advance. “So all people who want that. They must indicate that.”
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Professor Staasrecht Paul Bovend’Eert finds the Electoral Council’s criticism justified. “You encourage fraud if you let all people over 70 years old vote by post,” says the professor. “You can’t control where those notes go. You can sell them, for example.”
Rash maybe later
The elections will be on March 17 next year. If a vote is taken by mail, the results of the elections may come a few days later than normal.
The Ministry of the Interior informs RTL Nieuws that the risks are taken seriously. All kinds of measures are being taken to minimize the risk of abuse, says a spokesman. For example, it is punishable to impersonate someone else and the voter can only vote once because he only has a voting pass.
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