Time to Vote in the Netherlands

It is election time again in the Netherlands. Today 394 voting locations (stemlokalen) were open all over the country and more than 12 million Lowland dwellers received voting ballots - although it is expected that only 50% of that number will actually take part in the polling. From 7:30 this morning till 9 this evening voters filed in to use one of the 50,000 red pencils on hand (computers are not being used this year due to privacy concerns) to let it be known who's bums they feel should fill the 8,700 city counsel seats up for grabs this election. These city counsel elections are known in the Netherlands as Gemeenteraadsverkiesingen. In the Hague, Rotterdam, and Groningen, one polling station was open as early as midnight, making it possible for hundreds of people to make their vote before turning in for the night. Even Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende participated, voting at a nursing home near his home at 8:30am.

About a week ago, politicians began courting the expat community in an attempt to accrue more votes. The decline in numbers at stemlokalen over the years has made the expat vote a crucial one. CBS - the national statistics office - calculates that a total of 453,000 non-Dutch nationals will be eligible to vote in this year's elections. More political parties are including sections in English on their websites and places like Boom Chicago in Amsterdam held Political Party nights at which non-Dutch voters could debate and question counsel candidates.

A Labor Party representative was recently quoted by DutchNews.nl as having said that "The vast majority of expats are eligible to vote and local issues should matter to them. Education, transport, childcare facilities, all these subjects are relevant in their lives."

Amsterdam VVD candidate Frank van Dalen also supports the encouragement of expat votes: "Many of them don’t know they can vote and yet the way things are organised in Amsterdam is really influencing their lives, their surroundings and what they are facing everyday... But many expats don’t feel they are taken seriously by politicians."

In order to vote as an expat or non-Dutch national, you must meet the following requirements:

• You must be 18 years or older
• You must be an EU citizen living in the Netherlands OR
• You must have been a legal resident of the Netherlands for 5 years or more

For an excellent overview of Dutch elections and a comprehensive list of the largest active political parties in the Netherlands, visit I Am Expat. I also urge you to click here to read why comedian Greg Shapiro went to the polls... wearing a headscarf. Check out the video below to get the lowdown on Greg's view of policies in Amsterdam.



As for me, this non-EU, non- non-Dutch national will have to be content just watching from the sidelines for another 4 years... *sigh*

Speaking of voting... don't forget to vote in this month's poll "How do you feel about the fall of the Dutch Cabinet." To place your vote, just go to the top of the right-hand sidebar on the blog page. Voting ends on 19 March 2010 at 6:26 AM Central European time. Readers can only vote once.

And now it's your turn! Are you eligible to vote in this round of elections? If so, was your lovely face one of those at the polls? What do you think is the reason that so few eligible expats actually participate in the elections? If you're like me and haven't quite met the 5-year legal resident requirement, do you plan to vote once you are eligible?

To read more about Tiffany's adventures, go to her blog Clogs and Tulips: An American in Holland