Voting in municipal elections
On March 16, 2022, the Dutch municipal elections will be held, also in Diemen. During the municipal elections, the members of the municipal council are chosen. The candidates who collect the most votes will become councillors. They decide about the policies of the municipality where you live. Each candidate is a member of a political party. The more votes a party receives, the more seats it has in the municipal council.
You can also cast your vote on the two days preceding the elections (March 14 and 15) in one of the three early casting polling stations.
- You must be at least 18 years of age.
- You must not be excluded from voting (in Dutch).
- You must be a resident of a municipality. You must have the right to vote in the municipality where you are registered on the day when the candidates are nominated, i.e. 44 days before the election.
- Residents without EU citizenship must have lived legally in the Netherlands for at least 5 years before the election.
- Employees of foreign embassies or consulates – as well as their family members – do not have the right to vote. An exception is made for employees or family members with Dutch nationality, who are allowed to vote.
The Kiesraad (Electoral Council) provides more information about the eligibility requirements for voting in municipal elections.
At least 14 days before the election a voting pass in Dutch (‘stempas’) will be sent to you at your home address. You must take this voting pass, together with proof of your identity like your passport, to one of the polling stations (‘stembureaus’) in Diemen. You can check here where the nearest polling station is.
If you did you not receive one or lost your voting pass? Then you can request a substitute voting pass at your municipality.
At least 4 days before the election you will receive the list of candidates, together with the addresses of the polling stations.
On the election days, you can vote at one of the polling stations. They are open all day: from 7:30 in the morning until 21:00 in the evening. You need to identify yourself at the polling station. Dutch people and people with an identity from any EU member state, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway may identify themselves with their passport, driver’s license, or identity card. For people from Switzerland, a driving license is no valid identification. If you are from another country then you can only identify yourself with a valid passport. Besides identification it is very important to bring your voting pass!
At the polling station one of the election workers will ask you for your voting pass and for a valid identification paper. Without these you cannot to vote. You will receive a voting paper and a red pencil. This voting paper is a (very) large sheet of paper. You enter one of the voting booths and choose your candidate, colour the dot in front of your candidate’s name red and fold the paper again. Finally, put your voting paper in the ballot box.
Bear the following things in mind when voting: children are not allowed in the voting booth and you may take a photo of your voting paper, but you must ensure the privacy of the other voters.
In Diemen seven political parties are entering the elections. They have submitted their candidates before. You can choose one of them. If you need some help deciding who to vote for, there is a voting tool that can help you make your choice. From February 17 you can visit Kieskompas for Diemen. It also has an English version.
