To be eligible to vote in most elections in the Netherlands, you must have Dutch citizenship. However, municipal elections are open to the local expatriate community, as are EU elections for expats with EU citizenship. Learn about Dutch elections and your voting rights as an expat.
Here is a brief guide to the elections that expats can participate in in the Netherlands.
In municipal elections (Gemeenteraad), expats have the right to participate as long as they are registered with their municipality. This also applies to Dutch and EU citizens, but not to embassy and consular staff.
Non-EU citizens must have lived in the Netherlands uninterrupted for at least five years. For non-EU expats living in Amsterdam, it is possible to vote in the District Council (Bestuurscommissie) elections if you have been registered in the city for more than three years.
For the European Parliament, EU citizens are eligible to vote either in their country of origin (local candidates) or in the Netherlands (Dutch candidates). Please note that in both cases participants have to be over 18 and not have lost their right to vote.
Expats in the Netherlands are not eligible to vote in either parliamentary or provincial elections.
The Netherlands has separate elections for three levels of government: national, provincial and municipal.
Eerste Kamer elections are held:
Tweeder Kamer elections are held once every four years. Voters need to be Dutch nationals over 18 years of age who are eligible to vote.
Provincial council elections are held:
The number and "vote value" of provinicial council members depends on the number of inhabitants in each province. Voters need to be Dutch nationals over 18 years of age who are eligible to vote.
Municipal council elections are held:
The number of municipal councillors (which is always an odd number) depends on the number of inhabitants in the municipality. Voters need to be over 18 years of age, registered with the municipality, eligible to vote and either an EU citizen or a non-EU citizen who has lived in the Netherlands uninterrupted for at least five years.
In European Parliament elections, people in the Netherlands vote to distribute their 26 seats in the EU parliament. EU citizens can vote either in their country of origin or in the Netherlands.
Here is a list of the largest Dutch political parties:
In the run-up to elections, a "voting pass" is mailed by the local municipality to all residents who are entitled to vote. Note that:
In case the voting pass is lost or damaged: