The twenty-five councilors of the Gorinchem municipal council had a week to think about it. They interviewed two academics, specialized in constitutional law and elections, about it. They have sought advice from the Electoral Council. They lay awake, talked about it with fellow party members, doubted, hoped for one inspiration that would make everything clear.
But when they have to answer the question on Monday evening whether the municipal council elections should be held again, few are convinced what to do. Council members speak of “a devilish dilemma”, they stand there “with a heavy heart”. We are sailing, says CDA faction leader Joost van der Geest, “in the fog”. “What are you good at?” asks Paulien de Groot (PvdA-GroenLinks). “The honest answer is that we don’t know at this point.”
In the hours that follow, they debate extensively, negotiations, arguments and arguments take place in meeting rooms, parties publicly change their position, proposals are made that are later withdrawn and then, just before half past one at night, the city council writes political history: Gorinchem will elect a new council within thirty days.
It has happened several times before that municipal councils have had to be re-elected. But never before has this been about the issue that has dominated Gorinchem for a week: was there fraud in the municipal elections in mid-March? Last week, the municipality announced that the Public Prosecution Service (OM) and the police are investigating possible ballot box fraud.
Mayor Reinie Melissant filed a report because people may have been pressured to hand over their power of attorney. She had, she said during a meeting last week, received “signals” that people had been put under pressure at the door and by telephone. Recruiting proxies is prohibited.
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The case started with a few handwritten sentences in the official report of one polling station. The chairman wrote that he noticed that many proxies were submitted in the same way: with a paper clip on them. A sitting councilor, it is unclear who, also entered the polling station several times with people who also had proxies with them. After the mayor’s announcement, signals emerged from at least two more polling stations that a remarkable number of proxies had been submitted.
But evidence of fraud is not. Council members simply do not know whether something criminal has happened and whether the outcome of the elections is therefore unfair. And they won’t find out for a while: the Public Prosecution Service has not yet released anything about the investigation, not even how long it will take. Moreover, the old council is legally obliged to make a decision on Monday; will they accept the result or will there be a revote?
‘Shadow of Doubt’
This lack of clarity makes the choice for councilors virtually impossible, they emphasize, while outside the room, six rows of residents watch a stream of the meeting that also attracts thousands of viewers at home. But they draw opposite conclusions from this. There are council members, such as PvdA member De Groot, who say: because we don’t know, we have to accept the result.
But there are also those, such as SP member Ariën van Houwelingen, who say that because it is unclear whether fraud has been committed, an honest revote must now be organised. The biggest winner (from four to seven seats), Democrats Gorinchem, does not want a re-vote at all.
“If we continue, the shadow of doubt will remain,” says Maarten de Pagter (Christian Union-SGP). “We actually have to choose between two evils: do we accept a result that is in doubt, or do we remove the doubt with the strongest tool we have.” He chooses the latter, while others find the weight of that drug a reason not to do it.
Some hoped for outside help. Johan Klein of Stadsbelang, the largest party in the old council with five seats, thinks it is “a shame” that the Electoral Council, for example, did not give a final opinion on this. “Leave this historic decision to the hobbyists of Gorinchem,” he says scornfully. Based on the distribution of seats and the words of the faction leaders, there appears to be a majority in favor of a complete revote.
But some appear to still need a forty-minute suspension to reach a decision. The factions go into rooms, argue and sometimes cry, and then an extra twenty minutes are needed. Outside the council chamber, council members are chatting with each other, gossiping about political deals, and there is an exuberant, tense atmosphere.
Suddenly the faction leaders move together to a room, while they are already standing on the stairs they call other council members along. Then they split: most of the opposition to one room, most of the coalition down the stairs to another – with coalition councilor Everdien Hamann van Gorcum Actief in the opposition. Discussions are heating up, as can be seen from outside.
No support for compromise
The resulting compromise suddenly changes the tone from doubt to certainty and from calm to determination. Hamann announces a proposal to re-vote at four polling stations, because fifteen percent or more of the votes were cast with proxies there. Why fifteen? “Just guesswork,” says an SP member, “inexplicable,” says the leader of Stadsbelang. “It is above the national average of, I am told, thirteen percent,” says Hamann. Democrats Gorinchem, who became the largest in the elections and spoke out against a re-vote at the start of the meeting, also support the deal. “It is the least bad outcome,” said party leader Schefferlie.
But after another long suspension and several more meetings in rooms, Hamann withdrew her proposal – there was no majority in favor. “My sincere attempt to build bridges was not successful.” The smallest possible majority of thirteen seats votes in favor of a full revote, the entire coalition minus one councilor from local party Stadsbelang who is opposed for “reasons of principle”. No councilor looks happy, a former councilor who claps excitedly is watched in frustration.
The council, Mayor Melissant says before closing the meeting, must restore confidence. “We are going to work on that together. That starts now.”
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