Oooh, politics!

[beelikej]

We have general elections in The Netherlands tomorrow. There are 21 parties to choose from with in total 972 candidates (303 women, 669 men). There are twenty voting districts, in some of them local people are on the bottom of the list, to push votes. All votes count nationally though; all votes have the same weight

Comments

[tanisafan]

We have the obligation to vote (like Australia) so we get an 'oproepingsbrief'. If we don't show up, we have to pay a fine (a small one though). Occasionally, we also get a letter saying that we have to serve that day, which means sitting there all day and crossing names off the list. People often feel like, if they get one of these and they show up late, they won't be needed anymore. So the one time I was summoned, I got there early and they made all the latecomers stay and I got to go home, MUAHAHA.

I would gladly tell you about your party system and how often we have to vote (federal govt: every 4 years, flemish govt: every 4 years but not the same years, provincial/districts: every 3 and 6 years. It's very rare that we have a year without having to vote at least once.) but Belgium is SO COMPLICATED. Let me know if you realllllly wanna know, though :p.

[beelikej]

I already knew you had to vote, but I didn't know you also had to help out! I have no idea how those people in our polling stations are selected. They never seem very happy to be there. Or maybe that's because it's SERIOUS BUSINESS;)

Your country is very complicated indeed, however did you manage to survive without a government for so long :-p

I wouldn't want you to write an essay, but I am a little curious about the type of parties you have; is that different from The Netherlands too?

[cassiopeia7]

the VVD (Liberal party = the right/kapitalists, 31 seats)

"Liberal = the right"? I find that fascinating. In the US, "Liberal" is as pretty far from "right" as you can get. :) Here, it's Liberal = left/Democratic; Conservative = right/Republican. Other political parties are Independent; Green; Tea Party (biggest embarrassment EVER); and a multitude of smaller splinter groups.

US-people on my flist: do you have to register before every election?

We're not required to, but since so many people never bother to register in the first place, there are always big drives to register right before the major elections.

every baby in The Netherlands is registered at birth. After your eighteenth birthday you automatically get an invitation to vote for every election (local, regional, national). We need to bring this invitation and show our ID to get a voting form. We are not obligated to vote. We're not obligated to vote, either. As it is, you register IF you feel like it, and you vote IF you feel like it (people tend to stay away from

[beelikej]

:) To my knowledge the USA is one of the few, if not the only country that refers to the left as Liberals, it's quite confusing. In all of Europe (including the UK) liberals are kapitalists. The basic idea behind the Liberal party is that individual citizens should have as much freedom as possible meaning they want to have limited government interference. That is the main issue for your conservative right as well, isn't it? (Well, except when it comes to women and their bodies, hrmpf

[sillie82]

Looks like we voted for the same party. *high-fives* Aaaand now we wait... *taps fingers*

[beelikej]

*high fives* :-)

I'm not staying up for it; I trust Jan de Hoop will tell me all about it tomorrow morning. (Unless he's still on vacation, the bastard).

[sillie82]

Not gonna stay up for it either. They've only counted about 1% of the votes right now, so that's gonna take ages. :')

Good night! :D