With three months to the EU elections, Dutch local councils have pledged to write to all EU citizens living within their boundaries to alert them to the need to register if they want to vote in the Netherlands on June 6. 

The Netherlands will elect 31 MPs on that date, and the far-right PVV, which favours a Nexit, is expected to be the biggest party in the Dutch delegation.

EU nationals who want to vote in the Netherlands must have signed up to do so before April 23 and councils are required to make sure they are aware of their rights and the way to register by March 12. EU nationals who want to vote in their home countries do not need to sign up.

In 2019, there was widespread confusion about the need to register and little information was available. In the end, only 12% of EU nationals actually signed up to vote and the then minister pledged to take steps to improve the situation. 

“Councils are required to send the European parliamentary election registration form to all EU nationals living within their boundaries,” the home affairs ministry told Dutch News. “The letter and the Y32 form are translated into English, German, French, Italian, Polish and Spanish”. 

• Government website on voting rights
•  Form Y32 to register to vote

Dutch News contacted the 10 local authority areas with the biggest international populations to find out about how they planned to reach EU nationals. 

In Delft, for example, the council is writing to some 7,600 EU nationals who meet the qualifications to vote. Delft also says it briefs its foreign residents about their voting rights when they first register at the council offices. 

In Amersfoort too, the council is writing a personal letter to all EU nationals. “This is the most personal and direct way to reach them,” a spokesman told Dutch News. The register is also permanent, and people will no longer have to sign up every five years. 

Amsterdam will also be writing to the nearly 96,000 EU nationals living within its borders to inform them about their voting rights. The letter will be sent in several languages and should reach potential voters in early March, a spokeswoman said. 

EU nationals in Groningen will also get an information letter about their options and the city will launch a voting campaign on social media. The city will also specifically target international students at the city’s hbo college and university about their rights to take part. 

In Utrecht, some 17,000 people will get a letter about their rights. The Hague said it had planned to write to all its EU residents by the end of February. 

The home affairs ministry told Dutch News that councils are also required to inform citizens about their rights “again”, six weeks before the closure deadline. 

The European parliament has passed several motions calling for further efforts to ensure more “mobile citizens” turn out to vote and saying it is “essential… to ensure they can exercise that right”.

Are you an EU national and have you had a letter from your council about your right to vote? We’d like to hear from you for our election coverage. Please email editor@dutchnews.nl