Photos: Politicians cast their vote in Provincial States election; national turnout currently 7%

By Janene Pieters on March 20, 2019 - 13:40
Ballot bins at a polling station in Amsterdam, Provincial States and waterboard elections, 20 March 2019
Ballot bins at a polling station in Amsterdam, Provincial States and waterboard elections, 20 March 2019. (Photo: NL Times)

By 10:30 a.m. 7 percent of Dutch voters cast their vote in the Provincial States election, exactly the same turnout as this time in the 2015 election, according to a prognosis by research institute Ipsos. During the previous Provincial States election, the turnout eventually amounted to nearly 48 percent, NOS reports.

There are nearly 10 thousand polling stations spread throughout the country, most of which opened smoothly and on time at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Over 13 million Dutch can vote for their waterboards and the members of the Provincial States on Wednesday.

Multiple Dutch politicians already cast their vote, including Prime Minister Mark Rutte at a primary school in The Hague. He had some trouble getting his ballot into the box, according to NOS. "Whether this is the first of 20th time you make use of your right to vote, it remains a special moment. Also for me", Rutte said on Twitter.

GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver voted at a book store across the Tweede Kamer, along with his wife. SP leader Lilian Marijnissen voted in her home town of Oss. Minister Kasja Ollongren of Home Affairs arrived at the polling station without her passport, and had to go home to get it before she could vote, her spokesperson confirmed to NU.nl.

Minister Bruno Bruins of Medical Care cast his vote along with a visually impaired colleague, Marianne Huijben, in The Hague. They cast their vote at the same time to stress how important it is for people with disabilities to be able to vote by themselves. CDA leader Sybrand Buma voted in his home town of Voorburg. PVV leader Geert Wilders voted in The Hague. And FvD leader Thierry Baudet voted in Amsterdam. D66 leader Rob Jetten cast his vote in Ubbergen. 

 

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