Local Elections 2010

Expat voters in demand

Just one week before voters head to polling stations around the country for the local elections, politicians from the main parties are busy vying for the expat vote.

With voting numbers declining over the years and only 58% of the electorate casting their votes in 2006, expat vote will be crucial in some areas.

According to the national statistics office CBS some 453,000 non-Dutch nationals can take part in next week's vote, but traditionally many have felt detached and excluded from the Dutch political system.

Ignored

Kaj Leers of the PvdA (Labour party) in Amsterdam, where results are forecast to be very tight, thinks many non-Dutch residents and expats feel ignored by the political parties.

'The vast majority of expats are eligible to vote and local issues should matter to them. Education, transport, childcare facilities, all these subjects are relevant in their lives,' he says.

In an effort to engage expat voters, political parties have published sections of their website in English. In the Hague, the city council has even published an eight page document outlining the main points of all the party manifestos.

English

Despite calls from Integration minister Eberhard van der Laan to stop producing election material in other languages, Courtney van Rij of the CDA (Christian Democrats) in Wassenaar believes it is crucial to publish information in English.

'How can we expect a European national who just moved here and is eligible to vote, to understand his or her choices if it is only written in Dutch,' she says.

It is the democratic duty of all eligible foreigners who live in the Netherlands to use their vote, she says.

Debates

A number of live political debates have been organised where non-Dutch voters can question council candidates about their views, such as the Boom Chicago's Political Party nights in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam VVD candidate Frank van Dalen of the VVD has focused heavily on attracting expat voters and recognises the usefulness of public appearances..

'Many of them don’t know they can vote and yet the way things are organised in Amsterdam are really influencing their lives, their surroundings and what they are facing everyday,' he says. 'But many expats don’t feel they are taken seriously by politicians.'

Maastricht

In Maastricht, too, efforts are being made to mobilise the foreigner vote.

'Expats reside, work and live in Maastricht and therefore have the right to take part in the political development of our city,' says Meike Damsma of the local branch of the Liberal democrats D66.

'They have a voice and we hope that they will use it. We appreciate not only their economic contribution but also their social and political one.'

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