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2023 Dutch water board elections
	518 of the 602 seats in the water boards
Turnout	53.61

Water board elections were held in the European Netherlands on 15 March 2023 to elect 518 of the 602^[a] resident members of the country's water boards.^[1]

As in the provincial elections held on the same day, the Farmer–Citizen Movement became the largest party by vote share nationally and in 14 of the 21 water boards. Water Natuurlijk, which was endorsed by GroenLinks, Democrats 66 and Volt Netherlands fell to second place nationally but remained the largest party by vote share in four water boards. The Labour Party and local Water Board Party Hollandse Delta were also each largest by vote share in one water board.

These elections also saw a large increase in the number of elected officials to the water boards, due to a new bill which was passed by the Senate which heavily reduced the number of seats which went to stakeholders.^[2] The total number of seats in each water board was not affected by this, instead the seats that were formerly held by stakeholders are now elected during the water board elections.^[2]

Results

National


Party or alliance				Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Farmer–Citizen Movement			1,516,891	19.89	New	118	New
	WN		Water Natuurlijk	1,171,724	15.36	–1.90	91	+6
			Water, Wonen en Natuur^[b]	44,626	0.59	–0.15	6	0
		Total		1,216,350	15.95	–2.05	97	+6
	People's Party for Freedom and Democracy			783,219	10.27	–3.60	55	–15
	Labour Party			716,326	9.39	–1.90	50	+1
	Party for the Animals			569,563	7.47	+2.70	37	+20
	Christian Democratic Appeal			553,573	7.26	–5.45	36	−24
	General Water Board Party			400,402	5.25	–1.04	21	–2
	Christian Union			234,418	3.07	–1.38	14	−1
	50PLUS			230,999	3.03	–4.51	10	–22
	Belang van Nederland			194,014	2.54	New	5	New
	Reformed Political Party			177,537	2.33	–0.10	13	+4
	JA21			100,500	1.32	New	5	New
	Christian Union – Reformed Political Party			88,498	1.16	–0.38	6	–2
	Ondernemend Water			39,023	0.51	New	1	New
	Groningers' Interests [nl]			31,235	0.41	New	3	New
	The Greens			29,431	0.39	–0.18	1	–1
	Elderly Appeal - Heart for Water			12,740	0.17	–0.14	0	–1
	GOLD			10,010	0.13	New	0	New
	Others^[c]			721,402	9.46	–6.13	46	−11
Total				7,626,131	100.00	–	518	+76

Valid votes				7,626,131	98.57
Invalid votes				25,752	0.33
Blank votes				85,059	1.10
Total votes				7,736,942	100.00
Registered voters/turnout				13,759,207	56.23	+4.98
Source: Kiesraad

By Water Board

Water Board	Number of seats by party
	BBB	WN	VVD	PvdA	PvdD	CDA	AWP	CU	SGP	50+	BVNL	JA21	GB	Other	Total
														Other	Total
Noorderzijlvest	4	6	1	3	-	1	-	1	-	0	0	-	1	2^[d]	19
Fryslân	7	4	1	2	1	2	0	1	-	-	1	-	-	2^[e]	21
Hunze en Aa's	6	5	1	3	-	1	0	1	-	0	0	-	2	0	19
Drents Overijsselse Delta	9	5	2	-	2	2	0	2	1	0	0	-	-	2^[f]	25
Vechtstromen	9	7	2	-	-	3	1	1	0	0	0	-	-	0	23
Zuiderzeeland	6	6^[g]	2	-	-	1	2	2^[h]		1	1	-	-	-	21
Vallei en Veluwe	6	3	2	2	1	2	2	3	3	1	0	-	-	1^[i]	26
Rijn en IJssel	9	5	2	4	-	3	0	-	-	0	-	-	-	3^[j]	26
De Stichtse Rijnlanden	4	6	3	3	4	2	2	1	1	0	0	-	-	0	26
Amstel, Gooi en Vecht	3	4	4	6	4	1	2	1	-	0	0	-	-	1^[k]	26
Hollands Noorderkwartier	6	2	3	3	2	1	0	0	-	1	1	-	-	7^[l]	26
Rijnland	5	4	4	4	3	2	1	1^[h]		1	0	1	-	0	26
Delfland	4	4	4	3	3	2	3	1^[h]		0	1	1	-	0	26
Schieland en de Krimpenerwaard	3	6	4	3	3	1	2	2^[h]		1	0	1	-	0	26
Rivierenland	6	5	2	3	2	3	1	1	2	0	0	1	-	0	26
Hollandse Delta	4	2	3	2	2	1	0	1	2	1	1	1	-	6^[m]	26
Scheldestromen	7	2	2	2	1	2	1	1	4	0	-	-	-	4^[n]	26
Brabantse Delta	5	3	4	2	2	2	1	-	-	1	0	-	-	6^[o]	26
De Dommel	4	7	4	3	3	2	1	-	-	1	0	-	-	1^[p]	26
Aa en Maas	7	8	3	2	2	2	1	-	-	1	-	-	-	0	26
Limburg	4	3	2	-	2	-	1	-	-	1	0	-	-	13^[q]	26
Total
	118	97	55	50	37	36	21	14	13	10	5	5	3	48	518
	118	97	55	50	37	36	21	6		10	5	5	3	48	518
Compared to 2019	+118	+6	-15	+1	+20	-24	-2	-1	+4	-22	+5	+5	+3	-20	+76^[r]
Compared to 2019	+118	+6	-15	+1	+20	-24	-2	-2		-22	+5	+5	+3	-20	+76^[r]

Notes

^ ^a ^b Each water board holds two seats for agricultural and nature reserve stakeholders respectively, which are not elected
^ Water Natuurlijk affiliate party in Waterschap Zuiderzeeland
^ Parties that only participated in a single water board
^ Betaalbaar Water: 1, Student & Water: 1
^ Fryske Nasjonale Partij
^ Gemeentebelangen Drenthe-Overijssel
^ Water Natuurlijk is represented in Zuiderzeeland by Water, Wonen en Natuur.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Joint list CU/SGP
^ Lokaal Waterbeheer
^ Vrienden van de Berkel: 2, Ondernemend Water: 1
^ De Groenen
^ Waterplatform Groen, Water & Land: 5, Boeren Burgers Waterbelang: 2
^ Waterschapspartij Hollandse Delta: 5, Hollandse Delta Natuurlijk: 1
^ Partij voor Zeeland
^ Ons Water: 3, West-Brabant Waterbreed: 3
^ Werken aan Water
^ Lokaal-Limburg: 3, Waterbelang Parkstad: 2, Waterbelang Midden-Limburg: 1, Waterbelang Westelijke Mijnstreek: 1, Waterbelang Heuvelland: 1, Waterbelang Venray en Maasduinen: 1, Waterbelang Maastricht: 1, Waterbelang Venlo: 1, Waterbelang Land van Weert + Leudal: 1, Waterbelang Horst-Helden-Beesel: 1
^ Due to a reduction in the number of guaranteed seats, the number of eligible seats has increased in all water boards

References

^ Kiesraad (2017-07-04). "Verkiezingskalender - Actueel - Kiesraad.nl". www.kiesraad.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-12-19.
^ ^a ^b Unie van Waterschappen (2022-12-16). "Wet geborgde zetels per 17 december van kracht". unievanwaterschappen.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2023-04-22.