Voting method

Act of 28 September 1989 containing new provisions governing the franchise and elections (Elections Act) (Last amended by Act of 29 October 2009, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2009, no. 452)

CHAPTER L. Voting by proxy

Section L 1. A voter who does not expect to be able to vote in person may vote by proxy in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. […]

Section L 9. A voter who has his actual place of residence outside the Netherlands shall, if he wishes to vote by proxy, submit a written application to this effect to the mayor of The Hague at the same time as the request for registration referred to in section D 3. Application shall be made using a form included in the form referred to in section D 3, subsection 9.

CHAPTER M. Voting by post

Section M 1. In an election to the House of Representatives, a voter who has his actual place of residence outside the Netherlands on nomination day or who will be outside the Netherlands on polling day on account of his profession or work or on account of the profession or work of his spouse, partner or parent, shall, at his request, be allowed to vote by post in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.

OSCE, The Netherlands, Parliamentary Elections (17 March 2021), ODIHR Needs Assessment Mission Report (19 – 22 January 2021), accessed 1 April 2021

IDEA Handbook refers to e-voting, but there were only pilots in 2004 for e-voting from abroad (so they were not legally binding). Some changes were introduced in 2021 due to Covid-19 restrictions (e.g. increase in the number of proxy vote authorisations for an individual from two to three and extended deadlines for receipt of overseas postal votes). But these changes do not affect data in this database.