Oooh, politics!

[beelikej]

We have general elections in The Netherlands tomorrow. There are 21 parties to choose from with in total 972 candidates (303 women, 669 men). There are twenty voting districts, in some of them local people are on the bottom of the list, to push votes. All votes count nationally though; all votes have the same weight.

My vote will go to Groen Links, which stands for Green Left and that sums up quite nicely what the party is about *grins* The leader of this party is a woman, which makes it three out of three for all the issues that are important to me. This party definitely represents me and my interests best.
Obviously I hope they get to be part of the government, but I'm sure they will accomplish a lot from the opposition seats as usual:) Currently GL has 6 seats (out of 150 available)

The two biggest parties at the moment seem to be the PVDA (Worker's party = the left/socialists, 30 seats) and the VVD (Liberal party = the right/kapitalists, 31 seats). We'll see what happens...

US-people on my flist: do you have to register before every election?* I was wondering about that because we never need to do that; every baby in The Netherlands is registered at birth. After your eighteenth birthday you automatically get an invitation to vote for every election (local, regional, national). We need to bring this invitation and show our ID to get a voting form. We are not obligated to vote. Last time 75% of people voted (9.4 million) I hope we get a higher percentage tomorrow, but there has been a clear decline in the past few years, possibly because a lot of governments fell apart before their official four years were over. (Including the current coalition of VVD, CDA (Christian party) and PVV ("Freedom" party=rightwing)
Let's hope this time we manage to get a group together that will be able to finish the full term...

*FYI: I'd love to hear about the electorial process from every nationality on my flist:)


NOTE to MEMERS: I will respond tomorrow, tonight it's time for The Great British Bake Off! *runs to couch and tv*

Comments

[tanisafan.livejournal.com]

We have the obligation to vote (like Australia) so we get an 'oproepingsbrief'. If we don't show up, we have to pay a fine (a small one though). Occasionally, we also get a letter saying that we have to serve that day, which means sitting there all day and crossing names off the list. People often feel like, if they get one of these and they show up late, they won't be needed anymore. So the one time I was summoned, I got there early and they made all the latecomers stay and I got to go home, MUAHAHA.

I would gladly tell you about your party system and how often we have to vote (federal govt: every 4 years, flemish govt: every 4 years but not the same years, provincial/districts: every 3 and 6 years. It's very rare that we have a year without having to vote at least once.) but Belgium is SO COMPLICATED. Let me know if you realllllly wanna know, though :p.

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

I already knew you had to vote, but I didn't know you also had to help out! I have no idea how those people in our polling stations are selected. They never seem very happy to be there. Or maybe that's because it's SERIOUS BUSINESS;)

Your country is very complicated indeed, however did you manage to survive without a government for so long :-p

I wouldn't want you to write an essay, but I am a little curious about the type of parties you have; is that different from The Netherlands too?

[cassiopeia7.livejournal.com]

the VVD (Liberal party = the right/kapitalists, 31 seats)

"Liberal = the right"? I find that fascinating. In the US, "Liberal" is as pretty far from "right" as you can get. :) Here, it's Liberal = left/Democratic; Conservative = right/Republican. Other political parties are Independent; Green; Tea Party (biggest embarrassment EVER); and a multitude of smaller splinter groups.

US-people on my flist: do you have to register before every election?

We're not required to, but since so many people never bother to register in the first place, there are always big drives to register right before the major elections.

every baby in The Netherlands is registered at birth. After your eighteenth birthday you automatically get an invitation to vote for every election (local, regional, national). We need to bring this invitation and show our ID to get a voting form. We are not obligated to vote.

We're not obligated to vote, either. As it is, you register IF you feel like it, and you vote IF you feel like it (people tend to stay away from the polls on voting day if it rains, FFS.)

Last time 75% of people voted (9.4 million) I hope we get a higher percentage tomorrow, but there has been a clear decline in the past few years

OMG, if the US ever, EVER gets 75% of the people to vote, everybody better run and hide, because the Apocalypse is definitely coming. A 50% voter turnout is considered "good" around here. (I wish I were kidding. We Yanks SUCK at voting, and the ones who don't vote are the first ones to complain about the results.)

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

:) To my knowledge the USA is one of the few, if not the only country that refers to the left as Liberals, it's quite confusing. In all of Europe (including the UK) liberals are kapitalists. The basic idea behind the Liberal party is that individual citizens should have as much freedom as possible meaning they want to have limited government interference. That is the main issue for your conservative right as well, isn't it? (Well, except when it comes to women and their bodies, hrmpf)
When I was young I used to vote for the VVD, until I realized that some people's freedoms are potentially hurtful for others, so in my opinion we need (more) rules to make sure people are protected from harm. (very simplified socialism;)

I had no idea the percentage of voters was so low! That is a frightening thought. I looked at the exit-polls and it seems we will get close to that 75% again. Still not high enough for me. (You're right: the people that don't vote are usually the loudest protesters after the elections)

Both the VVD and the PVDA have won a lot of votes and are both estimated to get about 40 seats (possibly 1 more for the right). Whatever party is the largest will get first pick of a coalition. This process may take weeks. *sighs*

[sillie]

Looks like we voted for the same party. *high-fives* Aaaand now we wait... *taps fingers*

[beelikej.livejournal.com]

*high fives* :-)

I'm not staying up for it; I trust Jan de Hoop will tell me all about it tomorrow morning. (Unless he's still on vacation, the bastard).

[sillie]

Not gonna stay up for it either. They've only counted about 1% of the votes right now, so that's gonna take ages. :')

Good night! :D