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2014 European Parliament election in the Netherlands
26 seats to the European Parliament
Turnout	37.32%

Elections, candidates and members of the European Parliament for the Netherlands
1952–1958	ECSC delegation
1958–1979	EP delegation
1979–1984	1st election, candidates and members
1984–1989	2nd election, candidates and members
1989–1994	3rd election, candidates and members
1994–1999	4th election, candidates and members
1999–2004	5th election, candidates and members
2004–2009	6th election, candidates and members
2009–2014	7th election, candidates and members
2014–2019	8th election, candidates and members
2019–2024	9th election, candidates and members
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v t e

An election of the Members of the European Parliament from the Netherlands was held on 22 May 2014. This is the 8th time the elections have been held for the European elections in the Netherlands.

Background

Voting and election organisation

Active voting right

To cast a vote (for the right to vote) in elections for the European Parliament. The voter should:

have either the Dutch nationality or the nationality of a European Union member state;
be 18 years or older;
not be disqualified from voting.

Non-Dutch citizens who are nationals of other Member States of the European Union may vote at the election of the European Parliament, provided that they:

are living on the day of the candidates' nomination in the Netherlands;
have attained the age of 18 on the day of the vote;
are not disqualified from voting either in the Netherlands or in the Member State in which they are a citizen;
have registered in a municipality with a statement that they want to vote in the Netherlands. (The so-called Y-32 form.)

Dutch nationals abroad have to register to vote for the elections to the European Parliament. Upon registration request, they must indicate whether they are voting by letter, by proxy, or in person at a polling station in the Netherlands. Dutch nationals living in another EU Member State must make a statement that they have not voted in the Member State in which they reside.

Dutch residents of Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten have the same required as other Dutch living abroad. Dutch residents on Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba have no need to register, because these islands are part of the Netherlands. They may, as in other Dutch municipalities, vote at their polling stations.

The number of granted requests for registration in 2014 was 23,799 individuals. This was down from 39,601 registered international voters in 2009. Of these registered voters, 21,017 indicated they wanted to vote by mail, 1,804 requested to vote in the Netherlands itself at a polling station, and 978 wanted to grant power of attorney to someone in the Netherlands.

Passive voting right

To stand for election (for the right to be elected), a candidate should:

have either Dutch nationality or the nationality of a Member State of the European Union;
be eighteen years on the day of possible admission to the European Parliament;
not be excluded from the right to vote.

Non-Dutch candidates from other Member States of the European Union must, in addition, be an actual resident in the Netherlands and not be excluded from the right to be elected in the Member State of which they are a national.

Organisation of elections

In elections for the European Parliament, the national electoral districts play no role in the nomination. The Netherlands consists of a single electoral district. Political parties, therefore, take part in the elections with only a single candidate list.

Although the national electoral districts do play an important role in processing the election results. The principal polling station of each constituency determines the vote total of the constituency. The results of the vote are recorded in an official document and transferred to the Electoral Council. The Electoral Council, in its role as the central electoral committee, then determines the result of the Netherlands' distribution of seats.

The transfer of the official recorded votes to the Electoral Council took place in 18 constituencies on Monday, 26 May 2014. On Tuesday, 27 May, this transfer occurred for the two remaining constituencies where the municipalities Raalte, Kampen (constituency Zwolle), and Ouder-Amstel, (constituency Haarlem) experimented with a centralised counting of votes.

Casting a vote

A voter could cast their vote at a polling station of their choice within their own district. At the casting their vote, they could identify themselves with an identity document which is considered valid even if it has expired within the last 5 years.

Voters who voted in the election for the European Parliament in 2014 from outside the Netherlands experimented with a new model ballot. In this new ballot, parties were allowed to show the party logo above their candidates if it had been registered in advance with the Electoral Council.

Participation of political groups

On Monday, 14 April 2014, the Electoral Council had a public hearing on the validity of the lists of candidates for the election of the Dutch seats for the European Parliament. The candidate list of the Women's Party was declared invalid because the required deposit to participate (€11,250) was not paid. Furthermore, the following candidates of the Party for the Animals were deleted because their documentation was incomplete and, as such, could not participate in the election:

Tom Regan (United States);
Will Kymlicka (Canada);
J. M. Coetzee (Australia).

Numbering of the candidates list

In the public hearing on April 14, 2014, the Electoral Council numbered the lists of candidates. The parties who had obtained one or more seats in 2009 at the last election to the European Parliament were given a number based on the number of votes that the parties had achieved in the previous election. These totaled 8 candidate lists. The party with the most votes got number 1 and the rest were listed accordingly. The list numbers for the remaining 11 candidates were decided by a lottery.

The official order and names of candidate lists:

Candidate lists for the European Parliament election in the Netherlands

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2014

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Lists

List

English translation

List name (Dutch)

1

2014 European Parliament election in the Netherlands

Background

Voting and election organisation

Active voting right

Passive voting right

Organisation of elections

Casting a vote

Participation of political groups

Numbering of the candidates list

Common lists

Electoral alliances

Election day

Treaty of Lisbon

Campaign

Campaign posters

Polls

Seats

Percentages

Results

European groups

References

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