The Brabants Electoral Compass has been online for almost a week and has already been completed thousands of times. The people of Brabant appear to have strong differences of opinion on many topics, but there are also themes on which the province is remarkably united.
After the first few days, the national electoral compass has already been completed more than half a million times. For the regional variants, which the regional broadcasters helped compile, this is more than 75,000 times. Thousands of people have also completed the voting guide in Brabant.
Nearly five thousand of them left their details, and we will take a closer look at the answers these people gave. This way we see how the flag hangs among Brabanders of every gender, every age and every education level.
What does Brabant agree on?
What is striking is that people from Brabant are very unanimous on a number of topics. We looked at the statements with which the majority of voters agree or disagree.
- People who feel that their lives are complete are allowed to end their lives with professional help
Most provincial members currently think the same about this. 85% of Brabanders (completely) agree with this. Moreover, there are no major differences between the different groups of voters. - The government must spend more money on facilities in the region, even if there is less money for facilities in big cities
79 percent of Brabanders think this is a great idea and therefore (completely) agree. - The Netherlands must receive fewer asylum seekers
76 percent of Brabant residents (completely) agree with this. Male, practically educated people in particular are outspoken on this subject.
Where do opinions differ?
There are also topics that are a bit more difficult. The division is greater, the group of supporters and opponents is approximately the same size and there are more people who answered ‘neutral’.
- More wind turbines need to be built on land
This is, at the moment, the ‘hottest issue’ for many Brabanders. 32 percent of voters from our province agree (completely), but 39 percent disagree (completely). - Natural areas in the Netherlands must become larger, even if agricultural land disappears
36 percent of Brabanders agree (completely) with this, but 41 percent disagree (completely) and want to preserve agricultural land. - Because drug crime is increasing, supervisors in nature reserves may be given a firearm
46 percent of Brabanders (completely) agree with this, 39 percent (completely) disagree. The younger the more critical people are of this proposal, the older people in particular are in favour.
Don’t know yet what to vote for? Then complete the Electoral Compass below.