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2018 Dutch Intelligence and Security Services Act referendum

{{Short description|none}}

{{Infobox referendum

| image = Wiv referendum Winterswijk 2018.jpg

| country = Netherlands

| date = 21 March 2018

| question = Are you for or against the Intelligence and Security Services Act 2017?

| yes = 3122628

| no = 3317496

| blank = 270288

| total = 6734225

| electorate = 13064932

| yes_text = For

| no_text = Against

| voter_registration = no

| map = File:Niederlande Referendum 2018.svg

| map_caption = {{left|Results by municipality}}
{{leftlegend|#24B14C|For}}{{leftlegend|#DF0A24|Against}}

}}

An advisory referendum on the Intelligence and Security Services Act 2017 ({{Langx|nl|Wet op de inlichtingen- en veiligheidsdiensten 2017}}, abbreviated 'Wiv') was held in the Netherlands on 21 March 2018, alongside the municipal elections. It was the second referendum to be held under the Dutch Advisory Referendum Act after the 2016 Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement referendum.

A plurality of voters (49.44%) voted against the law, resulting in its rejection. Voter turnout was 51.5%, above the 30% threshold for validation of the result.[https://www.kiesraad.nl/actueel/nieuws/2018/03/29/uitslag-referendum-over-wiv-meerderheid-tegen Results referendum on Wiv: majority against] Kiesraad As with the previous referendum, the referendum created a no-show paradox, where the 46.5% of voters who turned out to vote for the bill instead causing its rejection, by helping the referendum meet the quota. If voters who cast for ballots had instead refused to show up, the turnout of 27.5% would have been insufficient for the result to be declared valid.

Although the referendum itself was non-binding, Prime Minister Mark Rutte had promised to take a potential "no" vote into account prior to the referendum.{{cite news|title=Dutch referendum: Spy tapping powers 'rejected'|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43496739|publisher=BBC|date=22 March 2018|access-date=28 March 2018}}

Background

The draft Intelligence and Security Agencies Act 2017 was laid before the States General by the Government of the Netherlands at the end of 2016. On 14 February 2017, a majority in the House of Representatives voted in support of the act,{{cite news|title=Tweede Kamer stemt voor 'aftapwet' inlichtingendiensten|url=https://www.ad.nl/binnenland/tweede-kamer-stemt-voor-aftapwet-inlichtingendiensten~ad2d8c52/|newspaper=Algemeen Dagblad|date=14 February 2017|access-date=1 November 2017}} which was then approved in the Senate on 11 July.{{cite web|title=Nieuwe Wet op de inlichtingen- en veiligheidsdiensten is een feit|url=https://www.aivd.nl/onderwerpen/nieuwe-wet-op-de-inlichtingen--en-veiligheidsdiensten/nieuws/2017/07/11/eerste-kamer-stemt-in-met-nieuwe-wet-op-de-inlichtingen--en-veiligheidsdiensten|publisher=Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst|date=11 July 2017|access-date=1 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107015451/https://www.aivd.nl/onderwerpen/nieuwe-wet-op-de-inlichtingen--en-veiligheidsdiensten/nieuws/2017/07/11/eerste-kamer-stemt-in-met-nieuwe-wet-op-de-inlichtingen--en-veiligheidsdiensten|archive-date=7 November 2017|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}

Request

class="wikitable"

! Stage

! Required

! Received

! Valid

Preliminary requests

| 10,000

| 19,266

| 17,162{{cite web|title=Inleidend verzoek referendum over Wiv toegelaten|url=https://www.kiesraad.nl/actueel/nieuws/2017/09/01/inleidend-verzoek-referendum-over-wiv-toegelaten|publisher=Kiesraad|date=1 September 2017|access-date=2 November 2017}}

Definitive requests

| 300,000

| 417,354

| 384,126{{cite web|title=Referendum over Wiv gaat door|url=https://www.kiesraad.nl/actueel/nieuws/2017/11/01/referendum-over-wiv-gaat-door|publisher=Kiesraad|date=1 November 2017|access-date=2 November 2017}}

A campaign to obtain sufficient support declarations for a referendum was initiated by a group of students at the University of Amsterdam concerned about the sweeping surveillance powers granted to the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) under the law.{{cite news|title=Raadgevend referendum over 'aftapwet' komt er|url=https://nos.nl/artikel/2200754-raadgevend-referendum-over-aftapwet-komt-er.html|publisher=NOS|date=1 November 2017|access-date=1 November 2017}} On 1 November 2017, the Electoral Council ({{langx|nl|Kiesraad}}) announced that a sufficient number of signatures had been collected to trigger an advisory referendum on the tapping law, with 384,126 valid signatures, over 92 percent of those collected, well above the 300,000 required for a referendum.

Party positions

The referendum comes after the formation of the Third Rutte cabinet following the 2017 general election,{{cite news|title=Nederland gaat stemmen over 'sleepwet'|url=https://www.trouw.nl/democratie/nederland-gaat-stemmen-over-sleepwet-~a41048fb/|newspaper=Trouw|date=1 November 2017|access-date=1 November 2017}} with the coalition divided whether to hold a referendum on the law, Democrats 66 (D66) being the only one of the four coalition parties that voted against disregarding the result ahead of the referendum.{{cite news|author=Lennart Zandbergen|title=CDA en D66 oneens over betekenis referendum 'sleepwet'|url=https://fd.nl/economie-politiek/1224727/cda-en-d66-oneens-over-betekenis-referendum-sleepwet|newspaper=Het Financieele Dagblad|date=28 October 2017|access-date=1 November 2017}}

The party positions listed below are based on the vote of the law in the House of Representatives on 14 February 2017, with the exception of Forum for Democracy (FvD), which was not represented in the lower chamber before the 2017 general election.{{cite report|title=Referendum over sleepwet|url=https://ioresearch.nl/Portals/0/I%26O%20Research%20referendum%20sleepwet_def.pdf|publisher=I&O Research|date=12 October 2017|access-date=1 November 2017}}

class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"

! colspan="2"| Party

! Seats

! Position

style="background:{{party color|People's Party for Freedom and Democracy}};"|

! People's Party for Freedom and Democracy

| {{Composition bar compact|33|150|{{party color|People's Party for Freedom and Democracy}}}}

| {{yes2|For}}

style="background:{{party color|Party for Freedom}};"|

! Party for Freedom

| {{Composition bar compact|20|150|{{party color|Party for Freedom}}}}

| {{yes2|For{{efn|PVV announced that even though they voted in favor, they would respect the outcome of the referendum.}}}}

style="background:{{party color|Christian Democratic Appeal}};"|

! Christian Democratic Appeal

| {{Composition bar compact|19|150|{{party color|Christian Democratic Appeal}}}}

| {{yes2|For}}

style="background:{{party color|Democrats 66}};"|

! Democrats 66

| {{Composition bar compact|19|150|{{party color|Democrats 66}}}}

| {{yes2|For}}

style="background:{{party color|GroenLinks}};"|

! GreenLeft

| {{Composition bar compact|14|150|{{party color|GroenLinks}}}}

| {{no2|Against}}

style="background:{{party color|Socialist Party (Netherlands)}};"|

! Socialist Party

| {{Composition bar compact|14|150|{{party color|Socialist Party (Netherlands)}}}}

| {{no2|Against}}

style="background:{{party color|Labour Party (Netherlands)}};"|

! Labour Party

| {{Composition bar compact|9|150|{{party color|Labour Party (Netherlands)}}}}

| {{yes2|For}}

style="background:{{party color|Christian Union (Netherlands)}};"|

! Christian Union

| {{Composition bar compact|5|150|{{party color|Christian Union (Netherlands)}}}}

| {{yes2|For}}

style="background:{{party color|Party for the Animals}};"|

! Party for the Animals

| {{Composition bar compact|5|150|{{party color|Party for the Animals}}}}

| {{no2|Against}}

style="background:{{party color|50PLUS}};"|

! 50PLUS

| {{Composition bar compact|4|150|{{party color|50PLUS}}}}

| {{yes2|For}}

style="background:{{party color|Reformed Political Party}};"|

! Reformed Political Party

| {{Composition bar compact|3|150|{{party color|Reformed Political Party}}}}

| {{yes2|For}}

style="background:{{party color|Denk (political party)}};"|

! Denk

| {{Composition bar compact|3|150|{{party color|Denk (political party)}}}}

| {{no2|Against}}

style="background:{{party color|Forum for Democracy (Netherlands)}};"|

! Forum for Democracy

| {{Composition bar compact|2|150|{{party color|Forum for Democracy (Netherlands)}}}}

| {{no2|Against}}

Opinion polls

= Vote in referendum =

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;line-height:14px;"
style="height:40px;"

! style="width:85px;" rowspan="2"| Polling firm

! style="width:75px;" rowspan="2"| Date

! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;"| For

! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;"| Against

! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" rowspan="2"| Don't know

! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" rowspan="2"| Will not vote

! style="width:30px;" rowspan="2"| Lead

style="background:#008142;"|

! style="background:#DC241F;"|

Ipsoshttps://eenvandaag.avrotros.nl/panels/opiniepanel/alle-uitslagen/item/referendum-voorstanders-lopen-uit/

| 20 Mar 2018

| style="background:#DEFDDE;"| 53

| 34

| 13

| –

| style="background:#008142;color:#FFFFFF"| 19

I&O Researchhttps://web.archive.org/web/20180315070628/https://ioresearch.nl/Portals/0/I%26O%20Research%20peiling%20Wiv_v3_140318.pdf

| 12 Mar 2018

| style="background:#DEFDDE;"| 51

| 30

| 19

| –

| style="background:#008142;color:#FFFFFF"| 21

Peil.nlhttps://www.noties.nl/v/get.php?a=peil.nl&s=weekpoll&f=2018-03-11+jef.pdf

| 11 Mar 2018

| style="background:#DEFDDE;"| 45

| 42

| 13

| –

| style="background:#008142;color:#FFFFFF"| 3

Kantar Publichttp://www.nipo.nl/nieuws/persberichten/in-de-peiling-gemeenteraadsverkiezingen/

| 4 Mar 2018

| style="background:#DEFDDE;"| 35

| 24

| 26

| 15

| style="background:#008142;color:#FFFFFF"| 10

Ipsoshttps://nos.nl/artikel/2222441-peilingen-voor-stem-referendum-inlichtingenwet-op-voorsprong.html

| 26 Feb 2018

| style="background:#DEFDDE;"| 48

| 32

| 20

| –

| style="background:#008142;color:#FFFFFF"| 16

I&O Researchhttps://web.archive.org/web/20180215204200/https://ioresearch.nl/Portals/0/I%26O%20Research%20peiling%20TK%20en%20sleepwet_def.pdf

| 6 Feb 2018

| style="background:#DEFDDE;"| 42

| 28

| 30

| –

| style="background:#008142;color:#FFFFFF"| 14

Kantar Publichttp://www.nipo.nl/nieuws/persberichten/in-de-peiling-gemeenteraadsverkiezingen/

| 28 Jan 2018

| style="background:#DEFDDE;"| 32

| 22

| 30

| 16

| style="background:#008142;color:#FFFFFF"| 10

Peil.nlhttps://www.noties.nl/v/get.php?a=peil.nl&s=weekpoll&f=2017-12-3+ccc.pdf

| 3 Dec 2017

| 40

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"| 60

| –

| –

| style="background:#DC241F;color:#FFFFFF" data-sort-value="-20"| 20

I&O Researchhttps://ioresearch.nl/Portals/0/I%26O%20Research%20referendum%20sleepwet_eind_okt_def_1.pdf

| 30 Oct 2017

| style="background:#DEFDDE;"| 52

| 32

| 17

| –

| style="background:#008142;color:#FFFFFF"| 20

I&O Researchhttps://web.archive.org/web/20171107015447/https://ioresearch.nl/Portals/0/I%26O%20Research%20referendum%20sleepwet_def.pdf

| 9 Oct 2017

| style="background:#DEFDDE;"| 50

| 30

| 20

| –

| style="background:#008142;color:#FFFFFF"| 20

I&O Researchhttps://web.archive.org/web/20170921001145/https://ioresearch.nl/Portals/0/I%26O%20Research%20politieke%20peiling%20sept%202017_def.pdf

| 11 Sep 2017

| style="background:#DEFDDE;"| 60

| 24

| 17

| –

| style="background:#008142;color:#FFFFFF"| 36

= Support for the law =

class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;line-height:14px;"
style="height:40px;"

! style="width:85px;" rowspan="2"| Polling firm

! style="width:75px;" rowspan="2"| Date

! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;"| For

! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;"| Against

! class="unsortable" style="width:50px;" rowspan="2"| Don't know

! style="width:30px;" rowspan="2"| Lead

style="background:#008142;"|

! style="background:#DC241F;"|

GfKhttps://web.archive.org/web/20171107011720/https://eenvandaag.avrotros.nl/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/Rapportage_Buma_en_de_Aftapwet.pdf

| 31 Oct 2017

| 34

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"| 53

| 13

| style="background:#DC241F;color:#FFFFFF" data-sort-value="-19"| 19

GfKhttps://web.archive.org/web/20171107022733/https://eenvandaag.avrotros.nl/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/Rapportage_online_privacy_en_sleepwet.pdf

| 23 Oct 2017

| 40

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"| 49

| 11

| style="background:#DC241F;color:#FFFFFF" data-sort-value="-9"| 9

Results

File:Dutch Intelligence and Security Services Act referendum, 2018 Provincial Results Map.png

{{Referendum results

|option1=For|o1votes=3122628

|option2=Against|o2votes=3317496

|option3=Blank|o3votes=270288

|invalidonly=y

|invalid=23813

|electorate=13064932

|source=[https://www.kiesraad.nl/actueel/nieuws/2018/03/29/uitslag-referendum-over-wiv-meerderheid-tegen Kiesraad]

}}

=Results by province or territory=

class="wikitable sortable" style=text-align:right

! rowspan=2 | Province or territory

! rowspan=2 | Electorate

! rowspan=2 | Voter turnout

! colspan=2 | In favour

! colspan=2 | Against

! colspan=2 | Blank

Votes

! %

! Votes

! %

! Votes

! %

align=left|{{flag|Drenthe}}

|387,611

|54.16

|99,787

|47.72

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"|100,850

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"|48.23

|8,472

|4.05

align=left|{{flag|Flevoland}}

|297,206

|50.28

|67,377

|45.24

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"|77,168

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"|51.81

|4,390

|2.95

align=left|{{flag|Friesland}}

|504,855

|42.80

|97,594

|45.30

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"|111,049

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"|51.55

|6,779

|3.15

align=left|{{flag|Gelderland}}

|1,602,016

|54.19

| style="background:#DEFDDE;"|415,207

| style="background:#DEFDDE;"|48.01

|411,924

|47.63

|37,737

|4.36

align=left|{{flag|Groningen}}

|458,131

|37.22

|61,200

|35.97

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"|105,009

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"|61.72

|3,916

|2.30

align=left|{{flag|Limburg (Netherlands)|name=Limburg}}

|873,201

|50.23

|206,901

|47.33

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"|209,891

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"|48.02

|20,310

|4.65

align=left|{{flag|North Brabant}}

|1,947,973

|48.43

| style="background:#DEFDDE;"|469,115

| style="background:#DEFDDE;"|49.90

|430,932

|45.84

|40,032

|4.26

align=left|{{flag|North Holland}}

|2,075,436

|52.87

|453,840

|41.51

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"|598,606

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"|54.75

|40,927

|3.74

align=left|{{flag|Overijssel}}

|882,344

|56.92

| style="background:#DEFDDE;"|247,309

| style="background:#DEFDDE;"|49.41

|230,930

|46.14

|22,311

|4.46

align=left|{{flag|Utrecht}}

|969,421

|57.65

|253,208

|45.46

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"|278,935

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"|50.08

|24,863

|4.46

align=left|{{flag|Zeeland}}

|291,514

|56.70

| style="background:#DEFDDE;"|88,950

| style="background:#DEFDDE;"|54.02

|69,174

|42.01

|6,536

|3.97

align=left|{{flag|South Holland}}

|2,760,065

|51.22

|661,822

|47.00

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"|692,443

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"|49.17

|54,009

|3.84

align=left|23px Caribbean Netherlands

|15,159

|6.06

|318

|34.98

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"|585

| style="background:#FDDEDE;"|64.36

|6

|0.66

class="sortbottom"

|align=left colspan=9|Source: [https://www.verkiezingsuitslagen.nl/verkiezingen/detail/NR20180321/666873 Kiesraad]

References

{{reflist}}

Notes

{{Notes}}

External links

  • {{Commonscatinline}}
  • [http://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0039896/2017-09-01 Text of the law] {{in lang|nl}}
  • [https://www.kiesraad.nl/actueel/nieuws/2017/11/01/referendum-over-wiv-gaat-door Announcement of the Electoral Council on the referendum] {{in lang|nl}}

{{Dutch elections}}

Netherlands

Intelligence

Category:Referendums in the Netherlands

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