Leuke stemlocaties bij de gemeenteraadsverkiezingen

What is a Dutch “stembureau”?

A stembureau is a Dutch polling station. The Netherlands runs an old voting tradition of placing stembureaus in unusual public spaces: windmills, churches, schoolgebouwen, retirement homes, bibliotheken, sports halls, and even decommissioned trams or boten. Gemeenten compete informally for the most photogenic location every election cycle. Polls open at 7:30am and close at 9pm; turnout for gemeenteraadsverkiezingen (municipal elections) hovers around 50%, lower than for national or provinciale elections. Dutch ballots are paper, hand-counted at the stembureau, with results published on the same evening.

In this clip, NOS Jeugdjournaal covers election day: “Om half 8 gingen stembureaus open. Hier in Nijmegen stond toen al een rij.”