A party leader who resigns within a week of the elections, candidates who are pressured to give up their seats and a number two of a party who gives his place to the unelected party leader. The tombola that started after the municipal elections is not exactly elegant in relation to the voters. But does this constitute voter fraud?
Less than a week after the elections, a lot is happening in politics in Drenthe. Johan Derksen could take a place in the municipal council of Aa en Hunze for the VVD on the basis of preferential votes. But no rooster crows if he doesn’t do that. Long before the elections, Derksen made it clear that he was only a list pusher for the party and would not take up a place in the council. Nothing to worry about.
How different is the situation in De Wolden. GroenLinks-PvdA wins three seats there. This means that party leader Herman Kuijpers would take a seat in the municipal council together with numbers two and three on the list. But less than a week after the elections, he withdraws. According to him, his way of working does not fit with current politics. A remarkable turnaround for someone who campaigned for the entire period.
In Hoogeveen there is a threat of a split within Forum for Democracy, one of the winners of the elections. Two candidates on the electoral list received hundreds of preferential votes, but if it were up to the party leadership, they would not get into the council despite the voters’ confidence. Those five places are intended for numbers one to five on the electoral list.
At Hart van Emmen no problems within the party, after number two on the list Klaas Bosma received more votes than party leader Robart de Jong. Bosma gives up his place to De Jong, as agreed in the party.
In some cases there is talk of voter fraud on social media. Because shouldn’t the person who has been elected with preferential votes simply take his deserved place in the council? Kees Aarts, professor of Political Institutions and Behavior at the University of Groningen, does not want to go that far.
“Voter fraud is a very strong word,” says Aarts. “In the case of the GroenLinks-PvdA party leader in De Wolden, that comes closest. He is number one on the list and then doesn’t do it. Is that cheating? In any case, it is not the intention.”
His voters should have known that Derksen will not take a seat on the council for the VVD in Aa and Hunze, says Aarts. “There is discussion about the use of list pushers, but within the Netherlands it is clear how this works. You know in advance that such a person usually does not sit on the council.”
He finds the position of Forum for Democracy more striking. Number six Harald Knegt and number eight Rolinka Klooster both received enough preferential votes to pass people higher on the electoral list and claim a seat, but the party does not want that.
The pair are considering sitting on the council in their own names. “If they are willing to accept their place, then nothing will stop them. This is a first good test for them as a politician. Can you keep your back straight when you are asked to do something you don’t want to do?”
“I have much more understanding for the exchange at Hart voor Emmen,” the professor continues. “It only concerns one seat and that may be annoying for the voter. Yet the number two on the list cannot do anything about the fact that he received more votes.”
But when is it acceptable for candidates to be shuffled around? “From a voter’s point of view, I find it difficult to make a sharp distinction,” says Aarts. “I think there are few voters who will vote for a different party next time because of this. Ultimately, someone usually chooses a party in the first instance and only then looks at who he votes for on the list.”
