How to vote?

EXPATS MOSLY ELIGIBLE TO VOTE

According to the Elections Act of 1989, legal residents over 18 may vote in the municipal elections. Many foreign nationals do not realize that they have the right to vote in municipal elections:

WHO CAN VOTE?

• Dutch citizens of Amsterdam
• Nationals of EU-member states and nationals of non-EU member states who are over 18 and who’ve been registered in Amsterdam for five consecutive years

VOTE FOR WHAT?

Every four years the 45 members who make up the city council and 29 for your city district council are elected by the people of Amsterdam. The city (district) council then appoints, based on the number of representatives elected from each party, the aldermen, or deputy mayors (presidents), who make up the municipal executive.

City council meetings are public and a variety of issues are decided, including the city’s budget. Municipal executive meetings are held in private and the two groups, both headed by the mayor, form a sort of "checks and balances" system. The mayor is appointed by the queen.

When you vote in city council elections in Amsterdam you’re asked to vote for just one candidate, though your vote will be counted on two fronts: once for the political party your candidate represents and once for the candidate him- or herself.

HOW TO VOTE?

In early February all eligible voters will receive a letter from the mayor, and a brochure in the mail with their personal ‘stempas’, or voting pass, attached. You’ll not be allowed to vote without your stempas and replacement passes can only be obtained on the spot from local municipal offices upon presentation of valid ID. On 3 March, 2010 voters can choose from any of the many polling stations across the city (listed in the letter and thereafter posted on www.amsterdam.nl) to cast their vote between 7.30 and 21.00 hours.