25 Members for first electoral college non-residents
After counting and checking the registrations of Dutch nationals living abroad, it appears that 37,173 voters have registered for the first non-resident electoral college ever. 449 voters have registered in Curaçao; in Aruba 186; and in Sint Maarten 59.
Until February 1, Dutch nationals abroad could register with the municipality of The Hague to vote for the new election on March 15. Based on this number of registrations, 25 electoral college members can be elected.
The electoral college of non-residents for the Senate is new and the municipality of The Hague had 4 months to set up this new type of elections. Mayor Jan van Zanen: “In the eyes of the members of the central electoral committee, the new electoral college election is already attracting considerable interest from voters and political parties. We succeeded in registering a large number of voters abroad in a short time for this new election. We think that is important, because every vote counts.”
On July 5, 2022, the Senate approved a constitutional amendment that made this election possible. Voters living abroad can vote for 129 candidates from 27 countries; 12 political parties and 1 independent candidate. Registration is required per type of election, which is determined nationally. That is why voters who were already registered for another election still had to apply for the new Electoral College election. Not all current voters abroad are therefore registered for the Electoral College election. History shows that the number of registered voters grows with every election. The municipality of The Hague campaigns every election to inform Dutch people abroad about the election and registration.