The Dutch water authority association Unie van Waterschappen is planning to publish the preliminary results of the water board elections later on Thursday, following Wednesday’s vote.

The higher than expected turnout has delayed some of the provincial election counts and that has had a knock-on effect on the water board results, the organisation said.

In total, 13.3 million Dutch nationals and some 900,000 foreign nationals were able to vote for the 21 water boards. Turnout in 2019 was just 51%.

The role of the water boards dates back centuries and their job is literally to manage water in their territory, a task which includes maintaining dykes and sluice gates, ensuring that water levels remain constant and that waste water is properly purified.

Each water board has its own elected governing board which has 18 to 30 seats, and an executive board. The chairman, or mayor, is know as the dijkgraaf.