LIVE: ‘GroenLinks largest in Nieuwegein’, Dorpsbelang wins in Renswoude, lower turnout in Utrecht and Amersfoort

Renswoude is the first municipality in the province of Utrecht with a result. Dorpsbelang has become the largest party, followed by the SGP, the VVD, the ChristenUnie and the CDA. A considerable shift for the municipality, where ChristenUnie was the largest.

Just in time to vote

In Utrecht, 56.4 percent of those entitled to vote went to the polls. That is a slightly lower turnout from four years ago, when 59 percent went to vote. The turnout in Utrecht was much higher than in Rotterdam (39 percent) and The Hague (43 percent).

Just like in Utrecht, 56.4 percent voted in the municipality of Amersfoort. This is also lower than in 2018 when 59.8 percent came to the polls.

At 9 p.m. all polling stations in the Netherlands were closed. Counters across the country start counting votes cast for municipal elections.

According to the exit poll of Ipsos commissioned by the NOS, GroenLinks seems to be the largest party in Nieuwegein. The party won 6 seats with 18.4 percent of the vote. This is followed by the VVD, which also has 6 seats with 17.1 percent. In the 2017 elections, the VVD was by far the largest party. The margin of error in the exit poll is 1 to 2 seats.

GroenLinks and the VVD are followed by PvdA and D66 (both 4 seats) and the local parties VSP, Local Renewal and the CDA (each 3 seats). In total there are eleven parties on the council. That is the same as in 2018. At that time SP was still the second party in Nieuwegein, but the socialists did not participate now. GroenLinks may have benefited from this.

De Unie in Nieuwegein will also receive a seat according to the exit poll. The PVV and Forum for Democracy do not participate in Nieuwegein.

According to the exit poll, the turnout in Nieuwegein is slightly higher than four years ago. Now, according to the exit poll, 49.8 percent of voters turned out, up from 48.1 percent in 2017.

Mayor Lucas Bolsius has a strenuous day in Amersfoort. He rides a tandem along all polling stations in his municipality. That means a journey of 65 kilometers past 100 polling stations. The job is almost done.

A frantic battle has broken out at the city hall in Utrecht between two polling stations. “Whoever receives the most votes will receive bitterballen tonight”, one of the chairmen laughs. Normally the town hall is a place where residents of Utrecht get married and where council meetings take place, says reporter Marc van Rossum du Chattel. Now the place is the setting for the municipal elections.

In the elections to the House of Representatives two years ago, the elections were completely dominated by the corona measures. These are now largely no longer visible, except for a few sanitizers and mouth caps for people who want to use them.

Utrecht still has the highest turnout percentage of the four largest cities. At the start of the evening, 44.9 percent had voted. In Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam the percentages were between 30 and 35 percent.

This afternoon we were at various places in the region. Watch contributions from our reporters below or read our live blog that we kept up during the day.

Municipal elections: a tour along fields.