A large part of Limburgers will go to the polls on Wednesday to submit a vote for the municipal elections. But who does that group actually consist of, and what is their choice?
From young to old, man and woman and a range of education levels. A large proportion of Limburgers go to the polls, according to a survey by L1 about the municipal elections among more than 500 Limburgers aged 18 and older.
the voter
Who is the voter? 81.2 percent of the survey participants say they will vote ‘certainly’ or ‘probably’. By contrast, almost one in ten Limburgers will (probably) not vote. The rest don’t know or don’t want to say yet. It is striking that the number of voters is much higher than the turnout figures of the previous elections. According to the CBS, this was between 50 and 60 percent of the inhabitants.
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Voting is especially popular among men: 84.1 percent say they probably or definitely will vote, compared to 77.7 percent of women. Age does not seem to play a role in this. Voting is, however, more popular among Limburgers with a higher education level.
Highly educated
Nine out of ten highly educated people say they are certain or likely to vote (90.1 percent). The situation is different for the less educated, although three quarters of the research participants say that they will vote (76.6 percent).
That is not surprising, according to political scientist Nico Baakman, who was affiliated with Maastricht University until his recent retirement. “I have a strong impression that voting in the middle and upper classes is more of an activity. The lower class throws en masse the voting pass in the old newspapers.” Presumably they have ‘lost faith’, argues the political scientist.
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The non-voter
Many non-voters are in agreement about it anyway. They will not vote, because politicians would talk too much and get too little done. “It’s all a conflict of interest and favoritism,” said one woman. “You only see them if there is something to open or a ribbon to cut. They do not see that the city is impoverishing,” says another research participant.
In addition, some of the non-voters also indicate that they are simply not interested or know enough to submit their vote.
Doubts about voting choice
Then another perhaps more important question: which party does the choice fall on? At the time the survey was conducted a few weeks ago, that was still the question for many Limburgers. For women, that choice seems slightly more difficult than for men: more than a quarter do not yet know what their vote will be (27.6 percent), compared to one in ten men.
In any case, they are most confident in Central Limburg: for many residents, the vote in municipal elections there goes to a local party anyway. 62.5% of Central Limburgers say they will vote for it. The situation is different in North and South Limburg. There, 35.9 and 36.5 percent vote for a local party, respectively.
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Local parties
Julien van Ostaijen, who is a researcher at Tilburg University researching local democracy, says it is difficult to explain why local parties are doing so well in this region. “The success of local parties is on the one hand due to local factors, such as an appealing leader and certain policy intentions.”
But on the other hand, there is also a relationship with national politics, says Van Ostaijen. “Voters can choose a local party if the national party of their preference does not participate. And if national politics is in a bad light, local parties are attractive.” According to political scientist Baakman, the popularity of local parties could also be explained by the fact that they have ‘feelers in the municipality’. As a result, they are more familiar with local issues that they can respond to.
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