Article 4: Voting rights
Every Dutch national shall have an equal right to elect the members of the general representative bodies and to stand for election as a member of those bodies, subject to the limitations and exceptions prescribed by Act of Parliament.
Explanation
Please note: Only the Dutch-language version of the Constitution has legal effect.
In principle, every Dutch national has the right to vote for, and to be elected to, a representative body. The most important of these are the two Houses of the States General, the provincial councils and municipal and submunicipal councils.
The word ‘equal’ refers to the principle of one person, one vote.
This article allows the legislature to impose restrictions and exceptions on voting rights. The Senate, for example, is elected indirectly by the members of the provincial councils, the electoral colleges in the Caribbean Netherlands and the electoral college for Dutch nationals living abroad.
The right to vote is regulated in the Elections Act.