NOS, one of the Dutch broadcaster responsible for the Eurovision Song Contest 2021, has reported that there may have been voting irregularities in the Netherlands last night. Several users on social media have complained that their votes were not processed. The broadcaster state they have asked for clarification from the European Broadcasting Union.
Text messages in the middle of the night
NOS report that many of the dozens of complaints that have surfaced on social media speak of text messages they received in the middle of the night. The messages they included in their article indeed show people voting for entries during the voting window. However, they all receive text messages between 01:00 and 05:00a.m. CET which state that voting has already ended and that the votes do not count. You can see an example below, where votes for Azerbaijan, Greece and France seemingly did not count.
NOS ask for clarification
The broadcaster is currently investigating the scale of the issue. They ask the question whether there was enough capacity to process all of the votes coming in last night. It is currently unclear as to many voters were affected by the issue. NOS therefore also don’t know whether it may have had an impact on the eventual Dutch televote. The Dutch voters awarded France their douze points, with Greece scoring ten.
NOS have asked the EBU for clarification on the matter. They have not received a reply yet. We will keep you posted about the voting irregularities reported in last night’s host country as soon as NOS confirm a reply.
The Netherlands finished in 23rd place last night. Jeangu Macrooy scored 11 points, all from the juries with his “Birth of a new age”. Relive the moment below!
In the UK. The vote phone line for Azerbaijan was engaged for the first 30 minutes of the voting wondow.