{"id":474,"date":"2026-03-18T23:20:50","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T23:20:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afzaalahmadzeeshan.com\/?p=474"},"modified":"2026-03-18T23:20:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T23:20:50","slug":"i-voted-the-municipal-elections-in-the-netherlands-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mermaid-essentials.com\/?p=474","title":{"rendered":"I Voted: The Municipal Elections in The Netherlands 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This was my first time voting, and it was incredible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voting Process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The ballot paper for the Almere council elections. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I am a Pakistani, and I do not hold a Dutch citizenship. And as per the laws, non-Dutch citizens are allowed, and invited to vote for the local municipal (council) elections. The rules<\/a> are clear and simple, for non-Dutch citizens, adults who have lived legally for the last 5 years can vote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The invite is a voting pass that you receive, and if you are multiple people living at the address who qualify for the invite you will receive multiple invite passes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The invite passes arrive to your home address a few weeks before the elections. If you do not receive a pass, or if you lose it, you should request a new pass from your municipality.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The election took place on Wednesday 18th March, 2026. The polling stations are open from morning until late at night (9pm in most cases). I visited the polling station after office, so about 6pm and it was a very simple and straight-forward procedure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I visited the station, I handed in the invite pass and they checked my ID to make sure I am the right person casting a vote. Then they handed me a ballot paper. I headed to the voting counter, casted my vote on the paper and then dropped the paper in the “trash bin”. It was a very funny feeling that you drop your vote in a trash can<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dropping your vote in a trash bin was the funniest part. If you feel like you want to waste your vote by not casting it, consider dropping it in a trash can. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And you are done. The entire process takes really short, and since the polling stations can be close by to your home you can just go for a walk with your children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I found my closest polling station online, and it was less than 500 meters away from you. The website Where Is My Polling Station<\/a> gives information about polling stations and you can simply find the station on the map.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You can find the polling stations that are closest to your home online.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The results take a few more time, but the results start to appear online and the leading parties are announced soon after the voting is done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be Responsible<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While voting does seem like it does not really bring a change. The responsible thing to do is to cast a vote. Even if you cast a vote for someone who doesn’t have the biggest change on their agenda. If you believe in that person, go vote for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And for the winning parties, you have to deliver the dream you communicated. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This was my first time voting, and it was incredible. Voting Process I am a Pakistani, and I do not hold a Dutch citizenship. And as per the laws, non-Dutch citizens are allowed, and invited to vote for the local municipal (council) elections. The rules are clear and simple, for non-Dutch citizens, adults who have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[21,23,24,40],"class_list":["post-474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-expat","tag-dutch","tag-expat","tag-family","tag-netherlands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mermaid-essentials.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mermaid-essentials.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mermaid-essentials.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mermaid-essentials.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mermaid-essentials.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mermaid-essentials.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mermaid-essentials.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mermaid-essentials.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mermaid-essentials.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mermaid-essentials.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}