Annual report 2017 Dutch Electoral Council
An election for the House of Representatives was held in 2017. In addition, redivision elections were held in a number of municipalities. No national referendum was held. In the course of the year, it did become clear that the Electoral Council had indeed received a sufficient number of requests in
both the introductory and the definitive phases to hold a referendum – at the same time as the March 2018 municipal Council elections – on the 2017 Intelligence and Security Services Law (Dutch acronym: Wiv).
The House of Representatives election took place on 15 March 2017. This was a remarkable election in many ways – broad participation of political parties with completely central nomination of candidates by the Electoral Council for the first time; with considerable media interest, both domestic and international, ministerial decision-making with respect to the use of elections software just prior to the day of the vote and with a (looming) shortage of ballot papers in various municipalities.
Recommendations
In 2017, the Electoral Council issued the following recommendations:
- Recommendation to the Senate’s electoral college
- Evaluation recommendation for the 2017 House of Representatives election
- Recommendation for a change in the Voting Act, abolishing combined lists
- Recommendation for a change in the Electoral Act and in Wrr concerning a general regulation of data protection
Three recommendations were issued at the request of and addressed to the Minister of BZK. The Electoral Council issued the evaluation recommendation about the House of representatives election at its own initiative on 15 March 2017.