The Dutch government has decided to hand count all ballots in its next election and to ditch its “vulnerable” counting software to prevent potential hackers from influencing the outcome.

The decision was taken amidst fears that hackers could influence next month’s elections after allegations by the US intelligence agency that Russia hacked into Democrats’ emails to help Donald Trump get elected. Russia denies any wrongdoing.

Intelligence agencies have warned that three crucial elections in Europe this year in the Netherlands, France and Germany could be vulnerable to manipulation by outside actors.

In a letter to the Dutch Parliament, Interior Minister Ronald Plasterk said that "reports in recent days about vulnerabilities in our systems raise the question of whether the results could be manipulated” and that “no shadow can be allowed to hang over the result".

Mr Plasterk told Dutch broadcaster RTL that possible external actors, which could influence the vote included Russia.

"Now there are indications that Russians could be interested, for the following elections we must fall back on good old pen and paper," he said.

In previous elections, the ballots were counted by hand locally but regional and national counts were done electronically.

But this year, all ballots will be counted by hand after voters make their choice on 15 March.

In the last parliamentary election in 2012, there were nearly 12.7m people eligible to vote. Mr Plasterk told RTL the vote count should not take longer than normal since election authorities will still publish a preliminary result on the evening after polls close.

Golden Dawn rally in Athens, Greece Show all 9 1 /9 Golden Dawn rally in Athens, Greece Golden Dawn rally in Athens, Greece Nikolaos Michaloliakos, leader of the Golden Dawn party, addresses supporters in front of the party's offices in Athens during the commemoration of the death of three officers in 1996 during the Imia crisis that brought Greece and Turkey to the brink of war Getty Images Golden Dawn rally in Athens, Greece Supporters of Greece's far-right Golden Dawn party lift torches and wave national and party flags during an annual rally to commemorate the 21st anniversary of the Imia dispute, in Athens, Greece Reuters Golden Dawn rally in Athens, Greece Golden Dawn supporters wave flags and chant slogans in front of the party's offices in Athens to commemorate the death of three officers in 1996 during the Imia crisis that brought Greece and Turkey to the brink of war Getty Golden Dawn rally in Athens, Greece Supporters of Greek ultra nationalist party Golden Dawn hold Greek national flags and torches during a gathering of Greek nationalists in central Athens, to commemorate the death of three Greek military officers Getty Images Golden Dawn rally in Athens, Greece Supporters of the Greek ultra nationalist party Golden Dawn hold Greek national flags and torches during a gathering of Greek nationalists in central Athens, to commemorate the death of three Greek military officers Getty Images Golden Dawn rally in Athens, Greece Protesters hold banners in a march to the US Embassy and to the offices of far-right wing party Golden Dawn, during an anti-fascist rally organized by leftist movements in Athens, Greece EPA Golden Dawn rally in Athens, Greece Protesters hold banners in a march to the US Embassy and to the offices of far-right wing party Golden Dawn, during an anti-fascist rally organized by leftist movements in Athens, Greece EPA Golden Dawn rally in Athens, Greece Supporters of Greece's extreme right Golden Dawn party raise torches during a rally commemorating a 1996 military incident which cost the lives of three Greek navy officers and brought Greece and Turkey to the brink of war, in Athens AP Golden Dawn rally in Athens, Greece Supporters of Greece's extreme right party Golden Dawn attend a rally in Athens AP

Dutch media have reported that the counting software may not only be insecure but also outdated. The counting software is reported to be distributed by CD-ROM to regional counting centres, where it is set-up on old computers that are internet connected.

An expert from Amsterdam’s Free University Herbert Bos told RTL that if one of his students had handed in the electoral programme in class as an assignment, “he’d fail him”.

The Electoral Commission in the Netherlands said a computer security company was now investigating for possible vulnerabilities.