Political relations in Gorinchem have largely remained the same during the re-held municipal elections. The big winner of March 18 – Democrats Gorinchem – has retained its seven seats according to the provisional results. However, the other winner – D66 – has to make do with one fewer seat and gets two.
Anja Broeken
Writes about the Gorinchem region
Voters had to go to the polls again on Wednesday after suspicions of fraud in the March elections.
The re-election also turned out well for the CDA of party leader Marijn Eland. His party will still get two seats in the council. In the elections on March 18, the CDA only had one seat left. The party missed out on a second seat: the CDA fell thirteen votes short.
Contrary to expectations, almost all Gorcum residents who went to vote on Wednesday, March 18, came to the polls again. Ultimately, 47 percent cast their votes. That is 4 percent less than during the municipal elections of March 18.
A boost for mayor Reinie Melissant. “The motto of our city Fortes Creantur Fortibus – Strong beget strong – has taken on a new meaning. We managed to hold new elections in a short time and almost all of our residents came to vote again. These elections are also during the May holidays.”
Lower turnout predicted
Experts therefore predicted a lower turnout. Postponing to a later day in May, which Mayor Melissant wanted, was not possible because the Electoral Act does not provide that space. They also concluded that the lack of more information about possible fraud and the new election round could undermine the confidence of some voters.
But almost all voters returned: 14,535 people cast their votes. And now Democrats Gorinchem also won more than a quarter of all votes. Just like in March, Stadsbelang remained stuck at four. This means that the oldest local party loses a seat.
The smallest local party, Gorcum Actief, was unable to repair the damage during the re-elections. The same applies to the SP. Both parties each had two seats in the council, but each lost one seat. Everdien Hamann, party leader of Gorcum Actief, thinks it is a shame that her party’s efforts are not being rewarded. Gorcum Actief was part of the city council for the first time. “Governing means halving,” she noted again.
Council initiates election itself
The re-elections were initiated by the council itself. That happened with only one vote difference: thirteen in favor and twelve against. The reason was that the elections might not have been fair.
Because during the municipal elections of March 18 and in the following days, both the municipality of Gorinchem and the police received reports about possible voting fraud. In the following days they also received messages that voting cards had been collected from their homes. Gorcum residents are said to have been put under pressure to hand over their passes.
Reason for the mayor to consult with the Public Prosecution Service. This saw sufficient reason for an investigation into possible fraud, and the mayor responded filed a report of fraud and other criminal offences. This investigation is still ongoing.
Nonsense
Many Gorcum residents thought re-elections were nonsense. Especially because it is not yet clear whether there is really fraud. It led to mutual accusations. In particular the Turkish council members Ilhan Tekir (D66) and Ali Koçak (Pvda in 2022, now Democrats Gorinchem) came under fire. Both received many preferential votes during the March 18 elections. But they also received this in previous municipal elections.
