AEGEE Election Observation Mission to the Netherlands (Mar 2017) - Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 17/03/2017 Simona De Paolis Mission Coordinator AEGEE Election Observation Mission to the Netherlands mission.netherlands@gmail.com

AEGEE Election Observation Mission Issues Preliminary Report

The AEGEE Election Observation Mission to the Netherlands (EOM) deployed 23 observers of 17 nationalities across the country to observe the 15 March 2017 House of Representatives Election. The observers covered the following municipalities: Amsterdam, Baarle-Nassau, Delft, Enschede, GoereeOverflakkee, Leiden, Leidschendam-Voorburg, Nijmegen, Rotterdam, Schouwen-Duiveland, The Hague, Tilburg and Utrecht. AEGEE Election Observation Missions have the particular aim of assessing youth engagement and participation in elections, both as voters and as candidates.

Accordingly, this report presents preliminary findings on our focus issues.

Turnout reached a record high of approximately 81% of eligible voters, which was the highest in 30 years. At numerous polling stations, election staff members expressed surprise at the number of voters. In all polling stations visited, over the course of their stay (30-40 min) AEGEE observers recorded over 50-70, and up to 150 people per polling station voting, without counting those still in the queue. Based on our preliminary findings and observations, we estimate that approximately 28% of those voters were young people, some of whom first time voters. However, a more exact statistic on the actual youth turnout is not available at the time of this release, and these numbers rely on an approximation of the data recorded by AEGEE observers during their visits to the various polling stations.

Almost all political parties have included at least one young candidate in their list, except for Party 50PLUS, which specifically aims to represent the interests of pensioners. The main areas addressed in the campaign revolved around topics such as healthcare, the EU, immigration and asylum seekers, although most parties include in their platform issues of interest to the youth population, such as housing, education, research and wages. However, the AEGEE EOM has noted the limitation created by the candidacy registration fee, which may prevent younger candidates without the financial means from entering the race.

AEGEE election observers were informed of concerns over low youth turnout prior to election day.

The EOM was informed that consequently, several participation initiatives directly targeting the youth have been launched. In particular, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations specifically targeted youth through Facebook and Snapchat campaigns to encourage their vote. Moreover, the radio channel 3FM launched the initiative ‘Stemmen is een partje’ (Voting is Your Part) at the Utrecht Central Train Station.

Despite the lack of sufficient promptness of the accreditation process, which revealed the unpreparedness of the Dutch authorities for hosting international observers and caused organizational pressures on the Mission, only in one instance out of 129 AEGEE observers were denied access to a

polling station on election day. Overall, polling station staff members were cooperative, and the voting and counting processes were visible and open to AEGEE observers.

Although the overall conduct of the election complies with democratic standards to a high level, AEGEE observers noted several instances of procedural irregularities during voting and counting mainly due to the overall conduct of the election, which appeared to be carried out in a general atmosphere of trust. It should be noted that security measures inside polling stations for ensuring integrity and secrecy of the vote are in most cases absent. Although the Presiding Officer is required by national legislation to ensure that the key of the ballot box lock is at all times present in the polling station, on several occasions, during shift changes this was not ensured and keys were brought outside the station for an extended time. On several occasions, AEGEE observers noted that ballots and ballot boxes remained unattended. The secrecy of the vote could have been compromised by the overall layout of the polling stations, which in most cases, especially in polling stations inside busy public venues, such as the Parliament, museums or pubs, was generally inadequate. The design of polling booths presented a particular challenge to the secrecy of the vote. Proxy voting appears to enjoy a relatively high degree of public trust, although the practice runs counter to international commitments and some concerns have been raised in public discourse regarding the possibilities it presents for influence over votes within households. AEGEE observers noted instances where appropriate checks of a proxy giver’s identity were not carried out as required by national legislation.

Several polling stations faced the issue of running out of ballot papers, and consequently extended their opening times. On some occasions, the new ballot papers were printed in different format, which made them identifiable. In general, the number of ballot papers received at a polling station is not recorded for reconciliation with the number of unused ballots at the end of polls, nor are ballots identified by marks unique to the polling station or municipality, exposing the vote to threats of counterfeiting and ballot box stuffing.

Despite the above mentioned concerns over the general layout of polling stations, AEGEE observers acknowledged the role that polling stations in public locations and peculiar premises (e.g. pubs, shipping containers) have in encouraging and promoting voting. Multiple voters have expressed their will by voting in one of the various peculiar polling stations located throughout the country. However, it is necessary to ensure that the layout and conditions in such polling stations are compatible with conducting elections which meet commitments pertaining to democratic elections.