WILLEMSTAD – The Dutch government is considering measures to make it easier for residents of Curaçao, Aruba, and Sint Maarten to participate in elections for the European Parliament, following questions raised by EU rapporteurs about accessibility and voter participation in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.
In a letter dated 19 December 2025 to the Tweede Kamer, the Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations responded to concerns about voting procedures for citizens in the so-called CAS countries. The answers were provided jointly with the State Secretary for the Interior and Kingdom Relations and address several practical obstacles faced by voters in the Caribbean.
One of the key proposals under consideration is the expansion of the number of postal voting offices on Curaçao, Aruba, and Sint Maarten. According to the minister, this would require an amendment to the Dutch Electoral Act. A draft bill to make this legally possible has already gone into public consultation and is expected to enter into force ahead of the 2029 European elections. The aim is to lower the threshold for voters in the Caribbean to cast their ballots, particularly for European Parliament elections.
The government also plans to hold further consultations with representatives of the CAS countries to improve overall accessibility. Initial exploratory talks have already taken place at the civil-service level, and these discussions are expected to intensify now that the Dutch parliamentary elections of October 29 have concluded. Experiences from those elections will be included in a broader study into how participation in both Dutch parliamentary and European elections can be improved for voters in the Caribbean. The results of this study, including possible changes to registration, communication, and distribution of voting materials, are expected by mid-2026.
Concerns were also raised about privacy, particularly the requirement for voters to submit copies of their passports when registering or voting by mail. The minister stated that existing procedures provide sufficient safeguards, including guidelines for safely copying identity documents and a formal privacy policy maintained by the municipality of The Hague. At this stage, the government sees no need to introduce digital identification as an alternative.
Another issue discussed was the registration deadline for overseas voters. While some EU countries allow later registration, the Dutch government argues that the current deadline strikes a necessary balance between giving voters sufficient time to register and ensuring that the electoral process can be carried out carefully and reliably. As a result, there are no plans to move the deadline closer to election day.
Finally, the minister rejected suggestions to automatically register students from the CAS countries who are studying in the Netherlands. Such a measure would require a change in the law and would introduce distinctions between voters based on their reason for residence, which the government considers undesirable.
The correspondence highlights ongoing efforts to improve democratic participation within the Kingdom, while also underlining the legal and logistical limits of the current electoral framework.