Hopes that sunny, warm weather can prevent historically low election turnout

The turnout for municipal elections continues to decline. Some experts fear that the turnout for today’s election will be historically low. Hopefully, sunny skies and high temperatures will convince more people to get outside and cast their vote.

You really couldn’t ask for more favorable weather to leave the house in today. Election day will see lovely spring weather with plenty of sunshine and high temperatures for the time of year. Maximums will climb to around 15 degrees Celsius, a few degrees lower in the Wadde Islands, with a moderate wind from the east to southeast. Typical maximums for mid-March are around 5 degrees lower, according to the KNMI.

Hopefully, that will be enough to turn the tide of ever-decreasing turnouts for municipal elections. In the 2006 election, 59 percent of eligible voters cast their vote for their council representatives. By the previous election in 2022, that had dropped to 51 percent, RTL Nieuws reported. The forecasts for today’s elections are not encouraging.

Political scientist Hans Vollaard of Utrecht University, who conducts research into election turnout figures, expects an even lower turnout today than in 2022. According to him, the main reason is that political parties, the media, and voters believe local elections are less important than national elections. The turnout for parliamentary elections hovers around 80 percent.

Some groups are significantly less likely to vote in the municipal elections, Vollaard told the broadcaster. He calls the unequal turnout really worrying. “Certain groups and neighborhoods really turn out less: those with practical training, ethnic minorities, and young people,” he said. “Those groups have different interests than the elderly and people with more money. But as a result, those voices are heard less.”

According to Vollaard, the most straightforward way to increase voter turnout is by stressing the civic duty. “People find that important. You often get that feeling from home,” he said. Education can also stress this duty with initiatives such as citizenship education and election festivals at schools. “That feeling doesn’t grow overnight, but it is better than nothing.”