Councillors in Gorinchem have decided to rerun the local elections after concerns were raised about possible voter fraud.

The town will go back to the ballot box after local parties said they wanted a “clean mandate” for the Zuid-Holland town’s 25 councillors.

Mayor Reinie Melissant made a formal complaint to police of fraud on Monday, triggering a criminal investigation. The allegations include soliciting votes, documentary fraud and enticing voters with gifts or promises.

The complaints focus on the unusually high number of proxy votes at some polling stations, as well as reports that voters received phone calls in which they were put under pressure to mandate somebody else to vote on their behalf.

Melissant had raised concerns before the elections on March 18 about the use of proxy voting in the town of 38,000 people between Rotterdam and ’s-Hertogenbosch.

At one location 135 of the 650 votes were cast by proxy, while one candidate went to the same polling station five times, each time accompanied by one or two people with several proxy votes.

Drastic step

Councillors voted by 13 to 12 on Monday evening to run the election again, despite the electoral council cautioning against taking such a drastic step.

“If the vote is held again voters may adjust the way they vote based on the previous result and not all voters who cast their vote first time may be willing or able to vote again.”

But local parties who supported the move said it was important the result was untainted by suspicions of fraud. “We don’t want to install a council without a clean mandate,” said Johan Klein of local party Stadsbelang.

The VVD, ChristenUnie-SGP and SP groups also backed a new ballot, while D66 and CDA were among the parties who argued against it.

“Do we really want to re-run the entire election on the basis of suspicions?” D66 group leader Ilhan Tekir asked ahead of Monday evening’s debate.

Melissant will now have to take charge of organising a new vote within 30 days, the time frame stipulated under Dutch law.

“We have prepared for various scenarios,” the mayor said. “I have already looked into how quickly new ballot papers can be produced.”

She said she would look at ways to minimise the number of proxy votes, including hiring taxis to take voters to polling stations.