The green party GroenLinks is to investigate how one of its Noord Holland provincial councillors spoiled his ballot paper for the senate elections, giving the Socialist party an extra seat.

‘Either he was so stupid that he did not realise you don’t tick all seven boxes or it was deliberate,’ party chairman Henk Nijhof said.
Provincial councils voted for the 75 upper house members on Tuesday morning.The CDA is the biggest party with 21 seats. The coalition government controls 40 of the senate seats, making it unlikely that legislation will run into trouble.