The Dutch general election result remains uncertain two days after the vote, with D66 and PVV in a close race. The final outcome depends on votes from Venray and Dutch expats abroad.

A small fire in a Venray polling station delayed the count, drawing national attention to the municipality. Venray’s mayor reported approximately 24,000 local votes cast, with final checks expected to conclude on Friday.

While Venray previously favored the PVV, the party’s support has declined broadly, while support for D66 has grown, even in PVV strongholds. In Almere, Wilders’ vote share decreased by seven percentage points compared to 2023, while D66 rose to second place.

Around 135,000 Dutch citizens living abroad requested postal ballots, with approximately 90,000 expected to be returned. The results from overseas voters are anticipated on Monday evening.

In the previous election, expat votes primarily went to GroenLinks-PvdA, with D66 and PVV receiving less support. D66’s vote share decreased in 2023, with insiders anticipating a higher share this time.

Parliamentary chairman Martin Bosma has postponed the meeting to appoint a “verkenner” (scout) until Tuesday. He cited the prematurity of starting coalition talks before all votes are counted.

The verkenner’s role is to explore potential coalitions with all parties winning seats in the 150-seat parliament; a total of 15 parties are expected to be represented.

With 99.7% of the votes tallied, both D66 and PVV have around 1.7 million votes and are tied at 26 seats each. Traditionally, the leader of the largest party initiates coalition talks, leading both Wilders and Jetten to position themselves for that mandate.