Your Right to Vote: Local Elections in the Netherlands

On March 3 there will be local Municipal elections held across the Netherlands and there is a lot of emphasis on getting expats to the polling stations this year. If you are an EU citizen, you have the right to vote and have a say in local affairs. If you are a non-EU citizen, but have been resident in the Netherlands for five years then you too have a vote.

According to the Hague On Line, 10% of the electorate in The Hague is made up of internationals - around 35,000 people eligible to vote. The Hague On Line is taking a very pro-active approach to the upcoming elections: interviewing candidates, talking about election issues and posting English language version manifestos.

You can find more information about eligibility to vote and the issues effecting expats in The Hague in a specially prepared document.

If you want to vote, but want more information about the parties and what they are promising to do in the forthcoming elections then visit the StemWijzer (in Dutch).

DutchNews.nl has also published a good article about the elections and the emphasis on expats, as well as links to English language election events in Amsterdam. There is also useful information on IamExpat.

And don't forget, once the local elections are out of the way there is a general election looming on 9 June....

Photo: Kristen Price