What do I need to vote in the municipal elections?
The next municipal elections in the Netherlands will be held on Wednesday 18 March 2026. Find out how the voting works and what to bring to the polling station.
When are you allowed to vote?
You can vote for the municipal council if you satisfy the following three conditions:
- On 18 March 2026, you are aged 18 or over. That means that you were born before 19 March 2008.
- On 2 February 2026, you are registered to an address in the Netherlands, as evidenced by the Base Registry Persons.
- You have Netherlands nationality. Or the nationality of another Member State of the European Union. Or you have the nationality of a country outside the EU and on 2 February 2026 you have resided in the Netherlands legally for 5 years or more.
Voting at a polling station
Polling stations are open from 7.30 a.m. to 9.00 p.m. Only special polling stations may open their doors at an earlier time. No station may be open after 9.00 p.m. As many polling stations as possible must be in buildings accessible to voters with a physical impairment and be in a location that is easy to reach for such voters. For all the polling stations in your municipality, check the website of your municipality or www.waarismijnstemlokaal.nl (in Dutch).
What to bring to the polling station?
When you go to vote on Wednesday, 18 March, you need to bring:
- your voting pass (stempas)
You will receive your voting pass in the post by no later than 4 March. - your identity document
This may be: your passport, identity card or driving licence from the Netherlands
The term of validity of your identity document may not have expired more than 5 years ago.
- Check the 'Date of expiry' on your identity document.
- Does that say 19 March 2021 or a later date? Then you can still use the identity document to vote.
What if you have lost your identity document? And you can't apply for a new one? Then ask someone else to cast your vote for you (proxy vote).
You can also use a residence permit, instead of an identity document, to vote.
Or you can use a passport, identity card or driving licence from an EU Member State, or a passport or identity card from Switzerland.
Once you are at the polling station, how does voting work?
You go through 6 steps to vote:
- Report to people of the polling station.
They will be at the large table at the polling station.- Hand them your voting pass.
- Show them your identity document.
- You will receive a ballot paper.
- The ballot paper contains all the parties and candidates.
- Enter the polling booth alone.
- The polling booths are installed so that no one can see for whom you are voting.
- Make your choice.
- Colour the box next to the name of the candidate for whom you want to vote red.
- What if you leave your ballot paper empty? Your vote will be a blank vote. That means that you are not voting for anyone. Your vote will then only count to calculate the turnout. Not to calculate the outcome of the election.
- Fold up your ballot paper.
- So no one can see for whom you have voted.
- Put your ballot paper in the ballot box.
- You have now voted.
If you are unable to vote yourself
If you are unable to vote yourself, for example because you have to work or are on holiday, you can ask another voter to vote on your behalf. This is called a proxy.