Municipalities see problems manually determine election results – NOS

The Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG) will as soon as possible with minister Plasterk discuss the issues that municipalities provide now the results of elections fully with the hand to be counted. The VNG believes that there is a lot of additional people and money are needed and it is questionable whether the provisional result on the night itself will be known.

Plasterk made Wednesday announced that the software that for eight years the results will be calculated not more will be used.

He did that after RTL had a message that the results are easy to hack. Hackers would the system be able to take on and the parties more or less seats. For each risk, the government decided that everything must manually.

In a letter, whose contents in the NIS known, says the association of Dutch municipalities to have an understanding of Plasterks decision, but it is also a pity to find that they are not consulted. The VNG recognizes that reliability is paramount, but regrets that there are no alternatives discussed to reduce the risk of hacking.

The manual count produces probably the most of the work in the large municipalities, with most of the polling stations. Utrecht and Eindhoven have already know that they need people to count, and more money.

Of the 12 million voters who go to the 10 thousand polling stations in our country are able to vote, the votes always been manually counted.

In the old situation were the results of the electoral committee’s passed on to the municipalities, that the results optelden and per municipality again passed to the electoral circumscriptions which are added the results of the whole of the Netherlands was formed. The software with which this previously happened is in march not in use. Everything will be manual.

source: Ministry of Home Affairs

A spokesman for minister Plasterk to let you know that there is already contact with the municipalities and the electoral council and that this week the table will sit. This is what Home Affairs established that “all deadlines of the election code will have to be achieved”. “There will be seriously looked at must be or more people or resources are needed,” said the spokesman. The preliminary results on the evening itself, according to Home Affairs not later than normal. “The manually counted votes were for the provisional result has always been by phone passed, that will be no different than different”.

Plasterk let results march full count, “hacking excluded’

With the upcoming parliamentary elections in march, the results are entirely hand-counted. Minister Plasterk wants everyone in the Netherlands knows for sure “that the outcome is really the outcome is”. With this measure, thinks the minister that hacking is excluded.