Background In the previous municipal elections, local political parties won by far the most votes and seats. Nationally, all local political parties won a total of 29% of the votes and around a third of municipal council seats.[2] Vlieland there are only local parties that participate.[3]
Of all national political parties, the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) will contest the most municipal elections; the party will be on the ballot in all but five (Diemen , Ouder-Amstel , Rozendaal , Vlieland and Schiermonnikoog ). The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) comes in second, contesting in 317 elections, while Democrats 66 participates in 289 elections. The Labour Party (PvdA) will participate in 303 elections, and GroenLinks in 229, many of which are joint lists between the two parties. Meanwhile, the ChristianUnion runs in 175 and the Reformed Political Party (SGP) in 96, with these parties also having many joint lists. The Socialist Party participates in 86, Forum for Democracy (FvD), which had previously only participated in Amsterdam , has expanded significantly to participate in 50 elections. The Party for Freedom (PVV) participates in 31, Party for the Animals (PvdD) in 30, DENK in 20, 50PLUS in 19 and BIJ1 in 5. There are also 3 national parties participating for the first time in municipal elections, BvNL in 20 municipalities, Volt in 10, and JA21 only in Amsterdam .[3]
Twelve municipalities will not have elections on 16 March due to mergers.
Electoral system Municipal councils are elected using party-list proportional representation . The number of seats depends on the population of the municipality, ranging from nine seats for municipalities with a population below 3,000, to 45 seats for municipalities with a population over 200,000. All people above the age of 18, who are registered in a municipality, and have not been excluded from voting following a court's decision are eligible to vote. Dutch citizenship is not required to be eligible to vote for municipal elections, non-EU nationals who have legally resided in the Netherlands for at least five years and EU citizens are also eligible to vote.[4]
National Opinion polling Polling firm Release Sample Local VVD CDA D66 GL PvdA SP CU SGP PVV PvdD DENK 50+ FvD BIJ1 Volt JA21 Others Lead I&O Research 10 Mar 2022 1,495 35.4% 11.2% 6.8% 7.5% 7.8% 7.4% 3.6% 3.8% 2.9% 3.3% 3.6% 0.9% 1.1% 1.3% 0.5% 1.5% 0.6% 0.4% 24.2% I&O Research 18 Feb 2022 1,444 33.0% 12.7% 6.0% 7.6% 7.3% 6.4% 3.6% 3.9% 2.9% 4.5% 3.6% 1.1% 0.7% 1.4% 0.9% 1.9% 2.6% 0.0% 20.3% I&O Research 31 Jan 2022 1,444 31.8% 12.3% 5.2% 7.2% 7.3% 6.0% 3.0% 3.3% 3.0% 6.3% 4.0% 1.3% 1.1% 2.5% 0.9% 2.6% 2.2% 0.0% 19.5% 2018 election 21 Mar 2018 – 28.7% 13.5% 13.4% 9.2% 8.9% 7.5% 4.4% 3.8% 1.9% 1.4% 1.2% 1.0% 0.8% 0.3% 0.1% did not contest 4.6% 15.2%
Results Party Votes % Seats +/– Local Parties 2,134,965 30.95 2,988 +377 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 807,085 11.70 1,000 –131 Christian Democratic Appeal 773,399 11.21 1,105 –240 Democrats 66 607,353 8.81 620 +18 GroenLinks 585,673 8.49 546 +19 Labour Party 541,140 7.85 560 +11 Christian Union 268,794 3.90 305 +2 Socialist Party 192,132 2.79 173 –112 Reformed Political Party 158,781 2.30 229 +56 Party for the Animals 135,587 1.97 63 +33 GL–PvdA 99,472 1.44 164 +50 Forum for Democracy 76,750 1.11 50 +47 CU-SGP 74,188 1.08 101 –6 DENK 67,982 0.99 24 0 Party for Freedom 62,559 0.91 61 –14 Volt 51,823 0.75 20 New Farmer–Citizen Movement 43,892 0.64 59 New 50PLUS 43,517 0.63 24 –9 BIJ1 40,332 0.58 8 +7 Frisian National Party 36,200 0.52 49 +27 BVNL 21,447 0.31 17 New JA21 13,691 0.20 2 New D66 –GL–PvdA 12,515 0.18 26 –17 Party for the Elderly and Safety 10,104 0.15 11 New D66 –GL 6,936 0.10 12 –2 Party for the North 5,829 0.08 5 New D66 –PvdA 4,043 0.06 4 –1 Jesus Lives 3,893 0.06 0 0 Pirate Party 3,251 0.05 1 +1 General Elderly Alliance 3,217 0.05 4 -5 LEF - For the New Generation 2,466 0.04 0 New Heart for Freedom 2,334 0.03 1 New BBB –TROTS 2,152 0.03 1 New Trots op Nederland 1,422 0.02 2 -1 D66 –GL–PvdA –SP 1,240 0.02 2 –8 The Party Party 912 0.01 0 New Total 6,897,076 100.00 8,237 – Valid votes 6,897,076 99.47 Invalid/blank votes 37,085 0.53 Total votes 6,934,161 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 13,599,700 50.99 Source: Kiesraad
Amsterdam Opinion polling Results Party Votes % Seats +/– Labour Party 57,093 17.57 9 +4 GroenLinks 48,096 14.80 8 –2 Democrats 66 44,732 13.77 7 –1 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 34,180 10.52 5 –1 Amsterdam BIJ1 22,623 6.96 3 +2 Party for the Animals 22,031 6.78 3 0 Volt 14,043 4.32 2 New Socialist Party 14,036 4.32 2 –1 JA21 13,691 4.21 2 New DENK 13,039 4.01 2 –1 Christian Democratic Appeal 8,270 2.55 1 0 Forum for Democracy 6,688 2.06 1 –2 Other parties 26,347 8.11 0 –2 Total 324,869 100.00 45 – Valid votes 324,869 99.11 Invalid/blank votes 2,924 0.89 Total votes 327,793 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 703,714 46.58 Source: Kiesraad
Rotterdam Opinion polling Results Party Votes % Seats +/– Livable Rotterdam 39,972 20.08 10 -1 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 22,410 11.26 6 +1 GroenLinks 19,806 9.95 5 0 Democrats 66 19,761 9.93 5 0 Labour Party 17,113 8.60 4 –1 DENK 15,612 7.84 4 0 Volt 10,365 5.21 2 New Party for the Animals 8,552 4.30 2 +1 BIJ1 8,205 4.12 2 New 50PLUS 7,216 3.63 1 0 Christian Union 6,822 3.43 1 New Socialist Party 5,766 2.90 1 –1 Christian Democratic Appeal 5,749 2.89 1 –1 Forum for Democracy 4,637 2.33 1 New Other parties 7,053 3.54 0 –4 Total 199,039 100.00 45 – Valid votes 199,039 98.93 Invalid/blank votes 2,161 1.07 Total votes 201,200 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 516,986 38.92 Source: Kiesraad
The Hague Opinion polling Results Party Votes % Seats +/– Heart for The Hague 30,988 16.97 9 +1 Democrats 66 27,937 15.30 8 +2 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 24,298 13.30 7 0 GroenLinks 18,223 9.98 5 0 Party for the Animals 12,363 6.77 3 +1 Labour Party 11,764 6.44 3 0 Christian Democratic Appeal 11,455 6.27 3 0 DENK 10,222 5.60 2 New The Hague City Party 6,471 3.54 1 –2 Socialist Party 5,337 2.92 1 0 Party for Freedom 5,324 2.92 1 –1 Christian Union – Reformed Political Party 4,971 2.72 1 0 Forum for Democracy 3,896 2.13 1 New Other parties 9,380 5.14 0 –4 Total 182,629 100.00 45 – Valid votes 182,629 99.20 Invalid/blank votes 1,465 0.80 Total votes 184,094 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 428,137 43.00 Source: Kiesraad
Utrecht Opinion polling Results Party Votes % Seats +/– GroenLinks 29,110 18.49 9 –3 Democrats 66 25,628 16.28 8 –2 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 14,856 9.44 5 –1 Labour Party 12,460 7.91 4 +1 Christian Democratic Appeal 11,117 7.06 3 +1 Party for the Animals 10,124 6.43 3 +1 Volt 8,896 5.65 3 New Student & Starter 8,546 5.43 2 0 Christian Union 6,034 3.83 2 0 DENK 5,525 3.51 1 –1 BIJ1 5,398 3.43 1 New OneUtrecht 4,383 2.78 1 New Socialist Party 3,945 2.51 1 –1 City Interest Utrecht 3,432 2.18 1 0 Party for Freedom 3,385 2.15 1 0 Other parties 4,586 2.91 0 0 Total 157,425 100.00 45 – Valid votes 157,425 99.59 Invalid/blank votes 645 0.41 Total votes 158,070 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 280,577 56.34 Source: Kiesraad
Groningen Opinion polling Results Party Votes % Seats +/– GroenLinks 18,669 17.76 9 –2 Labour Party 12,434 11.83 6 0 Democrats 66 10,986 10.45 5 0 Party for the Animals 9,730 9.26 4 +1 City Party 100% for Groningen 9,689 9.22 4 0 Socialist Party 8,631 8.21 4 –1 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 7,860 7.48 3 –1 Student en Stad 6,607 6.29 3 +2 Christian Union 5,344 5.08 2 –1 Christian Democratic Appeal 5,243 4.99 2 0 Party for the North 4,282 4.07 2 New Party for Freedom 2,234 2.13 1 0 Other parties 3,401 3.24 0 0 Total 105,110 100.00 45 – Valid votes 105,110 99.59 Invalid/blank votes 437 0.41 Total votes 105,547 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 194,113 54.37 Source: Kiesraad
Nijmegen Results Party Votes % Seats +/– GroenLinks 16,149 20.36 9 –2 City Party Nijmegen 12,873 16.23 7 +4 Democrats 66 10,664 13.45 6 0 Labour Party 8,352 10.53 4 +1 Party for the Animals 7,726 9.74 4 +2 Socialist Party 7,043 8.88 3 –2 People's Party for Freedom and Democracy 6,184 7.80 3 –1 Christian Democratic Appeal 3,562 4.49 2 0 Just Nijmegen.NOW 2,713 3.42 1 –1 Other parties 4,036 5.09 0 –1 Total 79,302 100.00 39 – Valid votes 79,302 99.53 Invalid/blank votes 377 0.47 Total votes 79,679 100.00 Registered voters/turnout 147,174 54.14 Source: Kiesraad
Notes References External links 
