On March 15, 2017, the Dutch will go to the voting polls to elect all 150 members of de Tweede Kamer der Staten-General or the House of Representatives. The verkiezingen or elections are predicted to set the stage for the upcoming elections in the rest of Europe.

Tweede Kamer (photograph taken by risastla found on Flickr.com)

So how do the elections work?

All eligible voters will elect one person from the ballot. That vote corresponds to the person but also to the party. In the end, the parties get a proportional amount of seats based on how many votes they received overall.

Who should I vote for?

Choosing who to vote for is a very important task. There are numerous parties in the Netherlands which makes the process a lot more varied, but also a lot more complex. The prevalent topics for the election are integration for immigrants and refugees and the financial stability of the country.

The website kieskompas.nl has a very interesting tool where you answer some questions and then you get the results of what parties are more aligned with your beliefs. This is, of course, not a foolproof method to choose, but it might help you narrow down your potential parties to just a few. Some of the questions are:

• Nederland moet minder vluchtelingen opvangen.
• De AOW (retirement) leeftijd mag niet verder worden verhoogd dan de huidige 67 jaar.
• Bepaalde sociale groepen waarvan de politie denkt dat ze vaker crimineel zijn, moeten strenger gecontroleerd worden.
• Het huidige systeem van meerdere zorgverzekeraars moet vervangen worden door één zorgfonds van de overheid.

Your options for answers are:

• Helemaal mee eens– Definitely agree
• Mee eens– Agree
• Neutral
• Niet mee eens– Do not agree
• Helemaal niet mee eens– Absolutely do not agree
• Geen mening– No opinion

Even if you are not voting, I suggest you take the quiz to get an idea of where your political ideology stand and, of course, to practice some reading comprehension.

What are the candidates saying?

There have been a few debates on TV and on the radio. Mark Rutte and Geert Wilders have not been present, but the rest of the candidates richly discussed the topics. You can see one of these debates below.

What are your thoughts on the Dutch elections? Any predictions?