Gorinchem is writing history today: 31,007 voters in that municipality can vote again for a new municipal council. The results of the March 18 elections have been declared invalid by the council because of suspected fraud.
Anja Broeken
Writes about the Gorinchem region
Repeating elections again may be special, but the turnout could be disappointing. After all, it is the May holiday. Mayor Reinie Melissant would have preferred that Gorcum residents go to the polls again later in May, but the Electoral Act prescribes that elections must take place within thirty days of the decision to re-elect.
51 percent went to the polls
It is therefore expected that turnout will be lower than during the municipal elections of March 18. Then 15,854 Gorcum residents voted: 51 percent of all eligible voters, below the national average of 54.1 percent.
Read everything about the re-elections in Gorinchem in this file.
‘Holiday doesn’t help’
Like the mayor, the experts expect fewer Gorcum residents to go to the polls. “The fact that these elections are during the holidays does not help,” says Tom Louwerse, professor of Political Behavior and Research Methods at Leiden University.
“Even in elections after municipal reorganizations, turnout is usually clearly lower than in regular municipal elections. This suggests that the effect of attention to the elections in national media is a relevant factor.”
“Of course there is attention in the national media to the fact that there are new elections in Gorinchem. But there are no national debates and live blogs that there were in March,” says Louwerse.
Typically, you see lower turnouts during midterm elections
According to pollster Maurice de Hond, it is possible that as many Gorcum residents will vote again as on March 18 due to the extra media attention. Yet he also expects fewer people to vote. “You usually see lower turnouts during midterm elections.”
Video with all party leaders
In any case, the municipality of Gorinchem is doing everything it can to convince residents that there are re-elections today. For example, there is once again an election newspaper and all party leaders call on a video to vote. The nine Gorcum parties also share that message via their own social media. Politicians from The Hague came to campaign for the local branch of their party.
Residents of the municipality of Gorinchem also encourage each other to vote. For example, Peter Muilwijk, administrator of the Facebook platform Nieuw Gorcum, published a poster with a call to vote. His platform has almost ten thousand members.
‘Chance of fraud virtually nil’
“Many Gorcum residents always have their opinion ready, but a large part of that group does not vote. I think it is important that people do vote,” Muilwijk gives as the reason for his poster. “Even now that many people have lost confidence in politics due to the suspected fraud. But after all the attention, I think the chance of fraud is virtually nil.”
After the March 18 elections, suspicions of tampering with ballot papers prompted Mayor Melissant to report fraud, forging documents and pressuring residents to hand over their voting cards, which is also known as canvassing, among other things. The police and the Public Prosecution Service are investigating, but it is not finished yet.
