Voter turnout creeps up as Mark Rutte, other politicians cast their ballots
This story was updated.
Voter turnout in the Dutch municipal elections showed that about 45 percent of Utrecht residents, 36 percent of voters living in The Hague, and 26.5 percent of Rotterdammers cast a ballot by 6 p.m. A surge of voters earlier in the day clearly slowed down during the afternoon in the three cities, but appeared to be rising as the work day ended.
Earlier in the day, at 1 p.m., it was evident that 19 percent of the 700,000 voters in Amsterdam visited a polling place and dropped a ballot in the box. That rose to 34 percent five hours later.
It was clear that roughly a third of the voters in Groningen and Nijmegen had voted by about 3:30 p.m. Roughly a fourth of residents in Eindhoven, Breda, and Lelystad cast a ballot, according to ANP, while just over 40 percent showed up in Hilversum.
As Netherlands residents visited the polling stations, so too did various politicians including Prime Minister and VVD leader Mark Rutte, Vice Prime Minister and D66 leader Sigrid Kaag, and leaders of opposition parties.
Prime Minister Rutte cast his vote at the primary school he attended, Schoolvereniging Wolters in The Hague. He told Goedemorgen Nederland that he voted for Dion Splunteren, number 19 on the VVD list in The Hague. "He is my colleague at the school where I teach on Thursdays. He's a gym teacher there, so I thought it would be great to vote for him," Rutte said.
Vandaag heb ik gestemd voor de gemeenteraadsverkiezingen.
— Mark Rutte (@markrutte) March 16, 2022
Maak ook gebruik van jouw democratisch recht. Ga stemmen. pic.twitter.com/NdzLgDpb3A
D66 leader and Minister of Finance Sigrid Kaag voted at Wijkcentrum 't Benordenhuis in The Hague. She took her two dogs along.
Vanochtend vroeg ben ik gaan stemmen. Maak ook gebruik van uw democratisch recht. Ga stemmen vandaag.
— Sigrid Kaag (@SigridKaag) March 16, 2022
Stem in vrijheid, voor vrijheid. Stem D66. #gemeenteraadsverkiezingen2022 pic.twitter.com/IWOIlCXMVP
CDA leader and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wopke Hoekstra voted in a church in Bussum.
Vanochtend mocht ik mijn stem uitbrengen op één van de kandidaten voor de gemeenteraad in Bussum.
— Wopke Hoekstra (@WBHoekstra) March 16, 2022
Juist in deze tijd beseffen we ons dat we in vrijheid mogen leven. Ga dus vooral naar de stembus en laat je stem horen! #CDA pic.twitter.com/QneFcRnNhI
ChristenUnie leader Gert-Jan Segers voted on Tuesday.
Het is gelukt! In alle vrijheid.
— Gert-Jan Segers (@gertjansegers) March 15, 2022
Waar je elders na het omhoog houden van een protestbord in een kamp kan eindigen, daar hebben wij zoveel vrijheid. Vier die deze dagen ajb in het stemhokje!
En ik heb mijn stem toevertrouwd aan @CUAmersfoort Vol overtuiging!#samenrechtdoen pic.twitter.com/0IplFqU3lg
PvdA leader Lilianne Ploumen voted at primary school De Mijlpaal in Amsterdam.
Vol overtuiging mijn stem uitgebracht op @MarjoleinMoor die zich met hart en ziel inzet voor Amsterdam en strijdt voor gelijke kansen voor iedereen.
— Lilianne Ploumen (@PloumenLilianne) March 16, 2022
Het kan een historische dag worden, voor het eerst een vrouwelijke lijsttrekker de grootste in Amsterdam! #StemSociaal #KiesPvdA pic.twitter.com/myXcoJBjxA
GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver voted in The Hague.
https://twitter.com/jesseklaver/status/1504034527336972289
SP leader Lilian Marijnissen voted at a primary school in Oss.
https://twitter.com/MarijnissenL/status/1504063972768628740
FvD leader Thierry Baudet voted at the Posthoorn church in Amsterdam.
https://twitter.com/fvdemocratie/status/1503994422253469698
VOLT leader Laurens Dassen voted in theater Zaal 3 in The Hague. PvdD leader Esther Ouwehand voted in Leiden. PVV reader Geert Wilders said he voted for Sebastian Kruis, the leader of the PVV in The Hague. Wilders voted by proxy because of illness.