Welcome to the website of the Dutch Electoral Council (Kiesraad)

Please find enclosed the Electoral Council’s Annual Report 2006. The Electoral Council has published this Annual Report to provide an insight into and give account for its activities in the 2006 election year.

The Electoral Council gives its advice below on preventing and sanctioning against the touting for declarations of support and proxy votes.

Presentation on recent elections in The Netherlands
on the occasion of the 4th European Conference of Electoral Management Bodies,
Strasbourg, 20-21 September 2007

by Prof. Dr Henk Kummeling
Chairman of the Electoral Council of the Netherlands 

Introduction

January 2005 - A number of statutory measures have been adopted in the Netherlands to prevent corruption and fraud during elections. These are laid down in electoral law and aim to ensure an open and verifiable electoral process.

The seven members of the Electoral Council are appointed by the Crown for a four year term. They can be reappointed twice. They must be independent and impartial. Daily affairs of the Council are handled by the director/secretary, who is in charge of the secretariat.

In this brochure you will find information about elections in the Netherlands. It informs you on the ways to vote and the different types of elections, which regulations govern the right to vote and also what the Electoral Council does. Besides this you can find information about the procedure for the nomination of candidates and how the result and allocation of the seats is determined.

Here you will find the Dutch Elections Act. This act contains provisions governing the franchise and elections of members of the Lower House (Tweede Kamer) and Upper House (Eerste Kamer) of the States General, the Dutch members of the European Parliament and of the members of provincial and municipal councils.

On 6 June 2005 the Electoral Council announced the official result of the consultative referendum held on 1 June 2005 on the European Constitutional Treaty.