Following political upheaval in America and the United Kingdom, the Netherlands is one of a handful of European countries holding elections in the coming months. Lower House elections will be held on Wednesday, 15 March, but for RUG students and staff who will be spending the spring semester abroad, that date will likely be weeks after they have already crossed the border.
Nico Beets from the municipality of Groningen says that 45 people have already applied to vote from abroad in the coming elections. As long as you are registered to vote by 3 p.m. on 1 February (which is Wednesday), there are two ways to do so: authorisation or via post. While the application date varies depending on the municipality where your Dutch address was located, here are the guidelines for how to make sure that your vote is counted in March. Both methods can be requested at the municipality of Groningen website.
Authorisation
If you will not be living in the Netherlands at the time of the upcoming Lower House elections, but will still have a Dutch address, you will need to authorise someone to vote on your behalf. Voters can submit a form to the municipality of their Dutch address by 10 March. An authorised voter does not have to live in the same municipality, but the form has to be filled in by the person who is going abroad and their authorised voter. The contact information for the person whom you authorise to vote on your behalf should be filled in on the back of your voting pass (which will be sent to your Dutch address), along with both your signatures. Your authorised voter will also need a copy of valid identification for you in order to cast a vote in your name.
Via post
If you will be out of the country on 15 March and no longer have a Dutch address, then you can request a ballot until 15 February. You can receive your ballot either in printed form or via email. The request is ultimately handled by the municipality of The Hague, and the ballots – in an orange envelop – have to be delivered to one of the voting locations on the continent where you are living by 3 p.m. on 15 March.
Mobility Project
It is becoming increasingly common for students and staff at the RUG to spend time abroad for their academic pursuits. In June 2017, the RUG is planning to launch the Mobility Project, whose goal is ‘to increase the numbers of outbound mobility students every year to 2025 in line with the goal of 50% of all UG graduates (at all study levels) having had an international mobility experience when they complete degree programmes.’According to the RUG’s Mobility and Scholarship Desk, 269 students studying abroad through an Erasmus+ grant or a Marco Polo grant will be out of the country on the day of the elections this year. In the previous academic year, 1,319 students spent time outside the Netherlands through these grants.