Nearly 13.6 million people are allowed to go to the polls

Nearly 13.6 million people will be allowed to vote in this year’s municipal elections. 334 of the 345 municipalities participate and in total there are 8235 council seats to be allocated.

In order to promote the spread of voters, the polling stations are open for three days, just like last year during the elections to the House of Representatives. On Monday and Tuesday voters could already go to more than 1700 places, Wednesday there are around 8800. Most polling stations are open between 07:30 and 21:00. Face masks are not mandatory in the polling stations and there is no need to keep 1.5 meters away. However, the municipalities are setting up the premises in such a way that 1.5 meters can be kept and extra hygiene measures are taken.

Although 334 municipalities participate, votes are cast for 333 councils. Residents of Weesp vote for the city council of Amsterdam, to which they will belong this year. In eleven municipalities there is no voting. In eight of these, council elections have already been held in recent years due to reclassifications. These are Eemsdelta, Boxtel, Vught and Oisterwijk (2020) and Maashorst, Land van Cuijk, Purmerend and Dijk en Waard (2021). In the municipalities of Brielle, Westvoorne and Hellevoetsluis, the ballot box will take place at a later date. These municipalities will merge as of 1 January 2023.

2871 parties are participating in the elections, of which 1776 are national and 1095 are local. A total of 54,994 candidates compete for the 8235 council seats. Every seat occupied in the upcoming elections has at least three candidates. The number of seats in the municipal council depends on the number of inhabitants. Eight municipalities have the highest possible number of places to allocate in the council, namely 45.

Almost everyone who lives in the Netherlands and is over 18 years old can vote. People are also allowed to vote if they come from a member state of the European Union or if they come from a more distant country and have lived here for at least five years. People from outside the EU who have lived here for less than five years are therefore not allowed to vote. This is most common in Amstelveen, affecting a tenth of the population. Also in Wageningen and Diemen there are a relatively large number of people who are not allowed to vote. Inmates are also allowed to vote. This is done by proxy, but can also be done in person, if they are on leave on the day of voting or because a polling station has been set up in the prison or TBS clinic where they are staying.

You can vote with a valid voting pass and a valid proof of identity. An ID is valid for voting if it has not expired for more than five years on March 16, 2022.