Frente Negra

Something is Rotten in Rotterdam

by Baron Bodissey

Our Flemish correspondent VH has compiled a report about massive voting fraud during the recent municipal elections in Rotterdam, mainly in immigrant neighborhoods. His account reminds me of what happened in Philadelphia in November 2008, when armed New Black Panther auxiliaries at the polling stations made certain that white voters understood who was in charge of Philly.

VH includes this explanatory note:

What happened in Rotterdam is something for others in Europe to be aware of at their next local or national elections. An official from Leefbaar Rotterdam visited polling stations in immigrant neighborhoods early in the morning, to see whether the voting process went neatly and according to law, but he was shocked at what he encountered, at almost any polling station he went to visit. Many complaints and witness reports followed later that day (when the outcome was still fully unknown). This happened previously in Rotterdam and Amsterdam in 2006, and also occurred in other cities last week. But it seems the worst cases were of fraud and intimidation were in Rotterdam.

In the Netherlands, immigrants without a Dutch passport and/or knowledge of Dutch language are allowed to vote in municipal elections.

The photo at right was taken at one of those polling stations, showing people together in a voting booth telling someone who to vote for.