Are you going to vote today?
The campaigning in the past months in the Netherlands has been intense with more new parties coming up, two big parties joined forces, one splintered from a big one to form another. What I like is how the parties encourage voters to go out there and vote and the platforms of debates.
The party heads appeared in a small debate on Jeugjournaal, a news program for children, where children got to ask questions themselves. Questions like "what is your biggest fear", "what was your greatest dream when you were a kid and how did you follow up that dream" and "what can you do for us?" were posed by children. The politicos had to convince the children and they also had a quiz show where some questions were asked: "what does the expression 'ai-naa! mean'?' or "what is the favourite expression of Ronaldo when he scores?"
The politicians also appeared on First Dates, a dating program, where they had to be on a date with a random person who is not voting for their party. So they got to know each other, the other person's concerns and the politician's ideals and his parties. At most, the speed dating was successful and the politicos succeeded in convincing the other.
What I learned in #dutchpolitics in the past years: 1) it takes almost a year to form a coalition; 2) immigration issues can cause a collapse in government and becomes the main topic in the election but no single party has proposed a comprehensive and sustainable inclusion framework for migrants. It has always been control and pushbacks of the unwanted; 3) it is much easier to become a party member and be a politician; it doesn't need money or connection or pedigree; just join a party that resonates with your ideals and climb the ladder from there; 4) it is very much a democracy but most parties are now leaning from the center to the right; 5) campaigning doesn't need to be too expensive. According to reports, all parties combined only spent around 1.3 million euro on online advertising, which is just a drop in the bucket compared to how much US politicians spend during elections; 6) before elections (or whenever you want to check your leanings), the Dutch check stemwijzer or voter tracker where you can check and compare your concerns, things important to you with parties' manifestos. This provides an extra guide about voting decisions; 7) voting is easy unlike in the other countries that you need to wait hours, only to realise you name is missing on the list. Here, your ballot is sent weeks in advance. Then on election day (which opens early until late to accommodate those who work), you bring the ballot to ANY polling station of your choice - this includes famous places like museums, the Paradiso in Amsterdam, churches, schools, community centers, pop up tents in train stations and public places. If they could put a polling room in one of the windows in the red light district, I think they would do. So there is really no reason not to vote.
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