What does a preference vote mean?
A candidate councilor can be elected to the municipal council with preferential votes. The number of votes required for this differs per municipality. There is a calculation formula behind it.
The number of votes cast on the council depends first of all on the turnout. And then it comes down to the number of valid votes for candidates. This is because it is also possible to vote blank or invalid, and these do not count towards the preference threshold.
The number of valid votes for candidates is then divided by the number of seats that can be distributed in the municipality. And then a quarter of that is needed to get to the council with preferential votes. For municipalities with fewer than 19 seats, this is half instead of a quarter.
Two examples
In the municipality of Westerveld, a total of 10,135 people voted, of which 10,091 are valid votes for candidates. There are 17 seats in the municipality. So this is a small community. 10.091/17*0.5 = 297 votes are therefore required to be elected to the council with preference votes.
The municipality of Coevorden is not a small municipality. The municipal council consists of 25 seats. In this municipality there are 14,956 valid votes for candidates. This means that 14,956 must be divided by 25. Because it concerns an ‘ordinary’ municipality, a quarter of this is taken: 14,956/25*0.25 = 150 votes.
The seats are initially awarded to candidates who have obtained sufficient preferential votes. If there are still more seats to be allocated, the order on the election list is decisive.