FRIDAY, 7
JUNE 2024 - 09:53
https://nltimes.nl/2024/06/07/many-voters-new-right-wing-coalition-vote-european-elections
Many voters for new-right wing coalition did not
vote in European elections
A large
proportion of people who voted for the PVV, VVD, BBB, or NSC in last year’s
parliamentary elections did not go to the polls for the European Parliament
elections on Thursday, according to research by Ipsos I&O for NOS. NSC
voters, in particular, stayed home.
More than
half, 59 percent, of NSC voters did not go to the polling station yesterday.
Only 13 percent voted for the NSC again. Seven percent switched to the CDA.
According to the exit poll, the NSC secured one of the 31 seats allocated to
the Netherlands. Mathematically, it means NSC has now lost two-thirds of its
voters compared to the parliamentary elections.
The NSC
will have to “speak to our voters,” party leader Pieter Omtzigt said in
response to the exit poll. He thinks his party’s cooperation with far-right PVV
in the new coalition "may also be a reason" far fewer people voted
for NSC in the European elections than in the parliamentary elections in
November.
The PVV
also saw less than half of its voters turn up for the European Parliament
elections. 56 percent of PVV voters did not vote. “Nevertheless, unlike in
2019, the PVV has managed to mobilize their voters to vote. In 2019, 68 percent
of PVV voters stayed at home, now, 44 percent of them went to the polls,” Ipsos
I&O researcher Sjoerd van Heck said.
Geert
Wilders’ far-right party also gained a lot of ground in this election, going
from one to seven seats in the European Parliament, according to the exit poll.
At this stage, the PVV is not projected to be the largest party as it is in the
Tweede Kamer. GroenLinks-PvdA is slightly ahead with eight projected seats.
The VVD and
BBB also had disappointing turnouts, with 47 and 44 percent of their voters,
respectively, not using their right to vote yesterday.
There also
seems to be some dissident within the VVD about the party’s cooperation with
the PVV. In its European political group, Renew, the VVD faced enormous
criticism for this. Group leader Valérie Hayer recently spoke out about this in
sharp terms and even threatened to expel the VVD from Renew. These comments
have cost the VVD seats, speculated current MEP Bart Groothuis, who held the
second spot on the VVD's list.
VVD leader
Dilan Yeşilgöz didn’t even speak to voters after the exit poll on Thursday,
instead posting a non-commentative statement on X, formerly Twitter. “Thank you
for your vote! We had a very nice evening in Rotterdam and will work hard for
you again tomorrow morning! Everywhere in the Netherlands and Europe!”
The
pro-European parties managed to attract many voters to the polls. Only 22
percent of GroenLinks-PvdA voters didn’t vote, the lowest percentage of all
parties after the ChristenUnie. Frans Timmermans’ party did lose some votes to
Volt (5 percent) and PvdD (3 percent). “But the majority of voters have
remained loyal to GroenLinks-PvdA. In the setting of low turnout, this quickly
leads to a good result,” said researcher Heck. 64 percent voted again for
GroenLinks-PvdA.
D66 had 31
voters stay at home, and Volt had 23 percent. The CDA, one of the big losers in
last year’s parliamentary election, did pretty well. Only 29 percent of CDA
voters didn’t vote, and 62 percent voted for the Christian Democrats again.
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