“I would like to think about the future,” Devi tells the NH camera, “and be part of this society.” She likes to delve into the elections and thinks ‘nature, education and care’ are important themes.
She would prefer to select a party in the run-up to March 18 for which these themes are also spearheads, but because she is not entitled to vote, that makes little sense. But why did Devi – unlike hundreds of thousands of other residents without Dutch nationality – not actually receive a voting card?
Two groups of internationals who are allowed to vote
To find the answer to that question, we visit Henk van der Kolk. The professor by special appointment of electoral politics explains that there are two groups of internationals who are allowed to vote: adults from EU countries who are registered in the Netherlands and non-EU citizens who have lived in the Netherlands for at least five years.
Devi is not from an EU country and has only lived in the Netherlands for three years. So voting is not yet an option for her. This will be different in the next elections. Then she would live in the Netherlands for seven years. She may only vote for the House of Representatives if she ever obtains Dutch nationality.
