Due to the corona virus, different and extra measures will apply in the polling station during the Dutch parliamentary elections on 17 March. Voters must wear a mouth mask and clean their hands when voting. Before anyone is allowed to vote, a health check is done. The voter has to answer the questions himself. If someone cannot answer all questions with ‘no’, that person may not vote in the polling station.
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The polling stations are set up in such a way that voters and polling station members can keep 1.5 meters away and that there is sufficient ventilation. The polling station members also do a health check before starting.
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Each polling station has an extra polling station member who keeps an eye on whether it is not getting too busy and whether everyone is complying with the measures. This person can also advise people to keep 5 feet away and ask them to clean their hands before voting.
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In the polling station, pencils, voting booths, tables and other objects are cleaned regularly. In some municipalities, all voters are given their own red pencil that they can take home afterwards. There are ‘cough screens’ between the voters and the members of the polling stations. Voters must show their identity document to the polling station member from behind the cough screen when voting.
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Drive-throughs, tents and mobile polling stations
At the same time, extra creative possibilities are provided to facilitate tuning in corona times. Utrecht, Enschede, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, among others, will receive voice drive-through. In Utrecht people can visit a park & ride car park by bicycle and car. In Rotterdam, there will be a drive-through at De Kuip in South and one at Melanchtonweg in North. A polling station for cars is being set up at the RAI in Amsterdam. Due to the freedom of vote and secrecy, no adults other than the driver should be in the car. There will also be a special bicycle street for voting.
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In Utrecht, the municipality will drive around with a special election trailer. “We drive this to neighborhoods where there is generally little enthusiasm for voting. In other elections we did this with a van, but that is not corona proof. The trailer is, ”said a spokeswoman for the municipality. Rotterdam will also have a mobile polling station, the route of which will be announced later. In The Hague you can vote in the Kurhaus, the Koninklijke Schouwburg and the Hilton Hotel. In Amsterdam there are voting locations in the Central Station, in the Melkweg, Pathé de Munt and the Scheepvaartmuseum.
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Several large municipalities will count the votes in a central location after the elections. According to the municipality of Utrecht, the purpose of this is to count votes more efficiently so that fewer mistakes are made and less recounts have to be made. “Moreover, it is now easier to regulate with the corona virus. People can better keep their distance, ”said a spokeswoman. In Rotterdam, the votes are collected in Ahoy. The transport of the votes to these locations is also done by buses.
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