Some 62% of Dutch News readers who took part in a recent election survey support giving the right to vote to taxpayers who have lived in the country for at least five years.

Currently only the 13.4 million Dutch nationals aged over 17 are allowed to vote in the general election – and that means hundreds of thousands of long-term foreign residents are disenfranchised, despite paying tax.

Figures published by national statistics agency CBS this week suggest that as many as 9% of adults in the Netherlands cannot take part in the October 29 vote because they do not have Dutch nationality.

In Amsterdam, for example, 24% of adults have no vote, in Amstelveen and The Hague 23%, and Amstelveen 22%.

Over 400 people who took part in the Dutch News survey contributed their thoughts to the debate, with most of them pointing out that as taxpayers they have no say about how their money is spent.

“If people are living in The Netherlands for five or more years, paying their taxes and contributing to the country as a whole, they should also be able to be heard on the decisions that will impact the country and therefore their lives,” one reader said.

“Most of the actions of the government affect the life of residents and yet we get no saying on choosing those that will decide many things for us even though we live and pay taxes like any Dutch national,” said another.

Some readers suggested that EU citizens or people with permanent residency permits should be able to vote. Others pointed out to Dutch rules requiring most people to renounce their original nationality to become Dutch and therefore have the right to vote.

“For some people, it’s a hard decision to “renounce your past” while dual citizenship is not allowed,” said one reader. “Some people live here for a long time and are a real part of the Dutch society, without the paperwork.”

Undemocratic

Others said the situation is undemocratic. “The laws passed by parliament affect me as much as everyone else,” said one. ”A democratic government gains its legitimacy from the approval of its subjects, and the fact of the matter is that many of those subjects are being excluded and often treated with hostility.”

The survey also showed that Dutch News readers would elect a two-party coalition made up of GroenLinks-PvdA and D66 to run the country.

The left-wing alliance can count on the vote of 32% of the Dutch News audience, while D66 are in second place in the recent survey with 21%.

In total 1,160 people took part in the online poll, which asked readers about their thoughts on the general election and the big issues. Of them, 33% are Dutch or dual Dutch nationals and will be able to vote on October 29.