Survey: Many Rotterdam residents decided not to vote because “nothing will change”

Rotterdam residents who did not vote in last year's municipal council elections did so not because they have disengaged from society, but for various reasons. This is according to a study conducted by The Hague University of Applied Sciences and Utrecht University involving both voters and non-voters.

In Rotterdam, only 38.9 percent of eligible voters made the effort to cast their vote for the city council on 16 March 2022. This is the lowest figure in the Netherlands. In some neighborhoods of Rotterdam-Zuid, such as Carnisse-Zuiderpark, less than a quarter of the people voted.

Voting or not voting does not say much about citizen participation in a broader sense,” the researchers wrote in the report. Some residents have “never been politically ‘involved.’”

The lower turnout rate was not a surprise to the researchers. They noted that young people, people who took part in vocational education, and people from an ethnically diverse, immigrant background are less likely to cast a ballot. “A relatively high proportion of Rotterdam residents have those background characteristics.”

As a reason for not voting, the 1,100 respondents stated that they had little or no confidence in politics. “Nothing will change,” the researchers heard from respondents. Another reason is that many of those surveyed have not paid careful attention to the elections, and consider local politics to be less important.

There was also a lack of urgency among some non-voters. While some did not feel a sense of being dissatisfied, others did not vote because they do not sufficiently speak the Dutch language. Many in the latter group had uncertainty regarding their voting rights.

Voters and non-voters did give advice for politicians. “Listen, be honest and deliver results. Know what is going on in the neighborhood, come up with real solutions, involve the residents and tell the honest story.”

In the Tweede Kamer elections last month, Rotterdam was among the municipalities with the lowest turnout, at 64.3 percent. During the Provincial Council elections last March, only 42.6 percent cast a ballot.