Final results should only be released on Monday night
The Netherlands is experiencing one of the closest elections ever. As the vote count draws to a close, the centrist D66 party has moved ahead of the Party for Freedom (PVV, far-right), led by Geert Wilders, by a difference of almost 15,000 votes, according to the updated data – with 98.9% of votes counted.
PVV, which until Thursday morning maintained a slight advantage, lost its lead after Amsterdam released new provisional results.
The municipality announced that it will release the preliminary results this Thursday based on almost 100% of the votes counted, thus advancing the initially planned calendar, which pointed to the final release only on Friday night.
The data already known shows that D66 registered a significant advance in the capital, becoming the second largest party in the capital, behind only the GroenLinks-PvdA coalition. The PVV, which traditionally has a weak performance in large cities, saw its vote share drop significantly, placing third in voting intentions.
Another factor that could still influence the final result are postal votes sent from abroad. So far, 136,272 Dutch people have registered as postal voters, but it is not yet known how many actually voted.
The results of these voters should only be released on Monday night, a government spokesperson said. The count has already started, but cannot be completed before then, as votes sent by embassies and consulates may arrive by that date. In the last elections, in 2023, D66 received 10.5% of these votes, while the PVV obtained 6.3%.
Wednesday night ended with , 38 years old, celebrating what could be the best result for the party he has led since 2023, D66. The centrist could become the youngest prime minister ever of the Netherlands and the first openly gay to lead the Dutch government.
Jetten’s popularity has risen significantly over the past month, driven by a campaign focused on solving the housing shortage, bolstering investment in education and addressing immigration issues.
Early elections in the Netherlands take place after Dick Schoof’s resignation on June 3, after the PVV left the coalition due to disagreements over asylum policy.
