Voter registration open for EU Parliament elections

The Ministry of Home Affairs has initiated a campaign to make it easier for eligible voters abroad to cast their votes in the May 2014 election of Dutch members of the European Parliament. Among the measures is a new ballot-paper that can be submitted online, the Ministry announced. “This handy ballot-paper is part of a series of measures to ease voting from abroad,” said the Ministry.

[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"26774","attributes":{"class":"media-image alignright size-medium wp-image-11107","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"205","height":"300","alt":"The European Parliament building Louise Weiss in Strasbourg"}}]]The elections for the members of the European Parliament take place once every five years; the dates are not the same for every EU member state. In the Netherlands the elections are scheduled for May 22 2014.

Voters in the Dutch Caribbean islands have started receiving their election registration forms this week; registration is open till April 10 2014. The form that can also be downloaded from the informative Home Affairs website, may –once it is filled out- be dropped off at or mailed to the offices of Dutch representation on the islands. The addresses of the offices are listed on the website. The form must be accompanied by a document that proves the voter holds Dutch nationality.

The site also features a model of the new ballot-paper for online voting. The Ministry is testing the new document and voters are invited to get acquainted with it ahead of the May 22 2014 election date. “This ballot-paper is different from the ones that have been used in the past and it is important that voters get comfortable with it so they know how to use it correctly,” the Ministry said.