In European elections in the Netherlands, opposition leader Frans Timmermans’ coalition is slightly ahead of right-wing populist Geert Wilders’ party, according to a post-election poll (publication poll).
According to a post-election poll by radio station NOS today, the Groenlinks/PvdA coalition of Greens and former EU commissioner Timmermans’ Left Wing is said to have won eight seats and Wilders’ PVV seven. Voters in the Netherlands were the first in the European Union to vote for the European Parliament.
Polls had earlier expected Wilders’ party to win the European elections for the first time. Five years ago he entered the European Parliament with only one member. The right-wing politician surprisingly won national parliamentary elections with his anti-Islamist party in November and will now govern alongside three other right-wing parties.
Voting will be held by Sunday
From today until Sunday, citizens in EU member states will elect their representatives to the European Parliament. Tomorrow Ireland and the Czech Republic will celebrate their election day, and on Saturday it will happen in Latvia, Malta and Slovakia. In Italy, elections start on Saturday afternoon and end on Sunday evening.
Austria, like other member states, will go to the polls on Sunday. Around 3.67 million people are eligible to vote, of whom almost 46,000 have their main residence in another EU country.
14 countries allow postal voting
Generally, different rules apply when voting from abroad depending on the Member State. In Bulgaria and Italy this is only possible for people living in another EU country.
Voting by post is available in Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Netherlands, Austria, Slovenia, Finland and Sweden.
Persons authorized in Belgium, France and the Netherlands can also vote. Voting can be done electronically in Estonia. In most countries, people aged 18 and over are allowed to vote, and in Austria, Germany, Belgium, Malta and Greece younger people are allowed to vote.