The parliamentary elections in March are spread over three days because of the corona crisis. In addition, people over 70 will have the opportunity to send their ballot paper by post, says Minister Kajsa Ollongren (Internal Affairs) on Friday after the Council of Ministers.
The parliamentary elections in March are spread over three days because of the corona crisis. In addition, people over 70 will have the opportunity to send their ballot paper by post, Minister Kajsa Ollongren (Internal Affairs) said Friday after the Council of Ministers.
Initially, the Dutch would only go to the polls on March 17. However, the cabinet wants to open a limited number of polling stations in all municipalities on the previous two days, after which all election offices will open again on 17 March.
In this way, the politicians want to encourage as many Dutch people as possible to cast their vote in times of the corona virus. “It will be special elections in this corona time. We can imagine that the Dutch do not want to stand in a queue for a long time with many people around them,” said Ollongren.
The minister reports that there may be polling stations in nursing homes where only residents can vote and more mobile polling stations will be set up. In addition, talks are underway with schools to convert those locations into larger polling stations as usual.
School boards would be reluctant, however, because parents are already not admitted due to the corona virus, Ollongren acknowledges. “If there is a polling station, of course a lot of people go into the school. We talk to schools about how we can best organize this.”
The cabinet hopes that Dutch people who are relatively less vulnerable to the corona virus will “just” vote on Wednesday. “But then as spread out as possible,” adds Ollongren.
Municipalities need a total of more than 10,000 extra volunteers
According to the minister, the municipalities can handle the lengthy voting period, but they need extra staff. “It is extra work, it is said that it involves ten thousand extra volunteers.”
People over 70 have the opportunity to send their vote by post, so that they do not have to go to a polling station. They belong to a risk group for the corona virus. Normally, only Dutch nationals residing abroad are allowed to vote by post.
Ollongren emphasizes that people over 70 have a choice. “You can just come to the polling station. We draw this line because RIVM classifies people over 70 as a high-risk group at this time.”
The House of Representatives has been discussing for some time what measures should be taken to ensure that elections run smoothly during corona time. The national government reported earlier that the corona measures apply in all polling stations and that consultation took place about how the elections could best be organized.