A candidate from Gemeentebelangen Hoogeveen counted votes at a polling station during the municipal elections, while she herself was on the list. That is against the rules, the municipality confirms.
This concerns Ina Doorten, number 23 on the party’s list. According to the municipality of Hoogeveen, this combination of roles has been overlooked.
The municipality then checked whether errors were made when counting the votes at this polling station. These have not been found, a spokesperson said.
An observant voter spotted the mistake. The person went to vote at the local and saw the member of Municipal Interests sitting there. He then sounded the alarm at the municipality and asked for clarification.
Doorten indicates that he was not aware of any harm and thought it was allowed. “Another polling station member told me that I could be a counter. Moreover, everything I count is also checked again.”
The national rules state that people who are eligible for election on the list are not allowed to help at a polling station. Not even as a support person, for example as a vote counter.
“The person in question could have known, because it was explained in advance. We as a municipality were not aware of it ourselves and should have paid more attention to it,” the municipal spokesperson responds.
Otherwise it had no effect on the counts. “It concerns the polling station at the Good Shepherd Church. When we found out about the news, we carried out an extra check, so no details emerged. That’s the end of the matter.”
In the future, Hoogeveen wants to prevent this and monitor it more strictly. It is not clear how this should happen.
All votes per candidate have now almost been counted, according to the municipality of Hoogeveen. The final results will follow in a week and it can be said with certainty who will and will not be in the municipal council.
Municipal Interests became the largest with 8 seats, followed by the VVD and Forum for Democracy with 5. GroenLinks-PvdA dropped to 4 seats and the same happened with the CDA.
