“Elections? That international students can vote in? The European ones, right, but those aren’t for few more years.” The expression on the faces of the Portuguese and Austrian students we spoke to in the Law Faculty garden is one of surprise. One of them did receive a poll card in the post last month. “But when I skimmed it, I only saw Dutch text, so I put it away.”
Turnout for municipal elections is often low, especially compared to general elections. In 2022, only about half of the eligible voters nationwide cast their vote; locally, Maastricht’s turnout was lower, 45 per cent. Among voters aged 18 to 25, that percentage is even lower.
The eighteen Dutch students Observant spoke to were almost all aware of the upcoming elections – barring the occasional one who said they were “not interested” in politics – compared to ten out of 32 students from around the EU who were unaware. Often they “haven’t checked their letterboxes recently”, and so haven’t seen any municipal post, and the campaign posters posted along the road have also passed them by. “Even at our programme, where we are explicitly taught about the importance of voting and your rights as a citizen, many have no idea,” sighed a German student of European Studies. Even though this group is eligible to vote – as long as they are registered with the council – as are people from outside the EU who have legally been in the Netherlands for at least five years.
Absolutely no idea
One German Law student who is “very interested in politics” has known that for a while. “I wanted to know whether I would be able to vote and looked it up. When I found out, I told my fellow students immediately.” Most other internationals who are aware, however, only found out recently. Usually because they received a poll card, or heard it from a fellow student or housemate, or through an activity organised by their (study) association. “Quite surprising,” is a frequent response. Another German, who Observant spoke to outside UNS40, has “only been here since September and will probably leave again in 2.5 years” and said it’s “funny” that he has a say at all. But he will be voting: “It’s important, students do form a large part of the inhabitants.”
About half of the people we spoke to said that they are also planning to cast a vote next week. About nine are still unsure, and seventeen – mostly international students – said they won’t be voting. An oft-cited argument among the latter group is that they have “absolutely no idea” how the Dutch political landscape works, let alone at a local level. “I think voting is important, but only if you’re properly informed and have a clear idea of who you’re voting for,” said a French UCM student, giving words to the thoughts of many. That requires learning about the parties’ manifestos and the political context, and many of them don’t feel like doing that. Either because they’ve only just moved here, or because they know they will be leaving again in a few months or years. Not to mention that they are “busy enough” with their degrees and are more interested in the political situation back home. The nine undecided feel similarly: they will only vote if they can find the time to read up enough.
Negative publicity
Most international students who are going to vote also need time to read up (a repeated statement: “I always do that only right before the election”). Two German students – one is an active member within the university participatory body, the other has political ambitions – have managed to choose a party to vote for and are something of an exception in this case. Some others know they would like to vote “liberal” or “on the left”, but as yet, have no idea which parties would fit that description.
Even just naming a single standing party is hard for a number of the international students. Some know one or two names, but only because they were in the news. For example, D66, the party of the new Dutch prime minister Rob Jetten, winner of the general elections in October, and Geert Wilders’s PVV – although in that case usually because he “has a lot of negative publicity, because I would never vote for him”, said a Slovenian and a German student. Volt is another name some people know. A Belgian student saw the party during INKOM, whereas a German student recognised the name “because they are also active in my country”. Another has also heard that there is something called “green left”.
Crash course
What doesn’t help is that there “are a ridiculous number of parties”, said a German student at FASoS. ‘Quickly’ reading up on the seventeen party manifestos is impossible. “Thankfully, I now have some idea, after speaking to Dutch friends who are interested in politics.” Others are still planning to that in the coming week, and one will even be taking “a crash course from a housemate who has lived here for five years”. Yet more are hoping to get some idea by using the English version of StemWijzer (a test to find out which parties fit your political preferences), which they had read about in the accompanying letter – also written in English – that the council had added to their poll cards. One Czech student plans to go to the political debate at the Law Faculty, and a German student plans to ask ChatGPT for help.
Many Dutch students, on the other hand, say they “can’t be bothered” to read up on the local parties (“I’ll be moving away in a few years anyway”) and are considering voting the same way they did during the general election. Only one Dutch student can even name a local party. “I heard about M:OED through word of mouth, because they want to keep the libraries open longer to study at.” The name doesn’t ring a bell with any of the others. Remarkable, as with two UM students as party leaders, M:OED is explicitly positioning itself as a student party.
Bin bags
Municipal elections aren’t much of a conversation topic anyway, is another frequently given response. Not that people never talk about politics, but that is usually reserved for the national or international stage. Many respondents are also not clear on what exactly is covered by the municipal council. In many cases, silence is the initial response to a question what topics or positions people find important. This is then sometimes followed by topics that municipal councils have no influence over, such as student finance, the healthcare system and the debate on internationalisation (“haven’t they decided that it should be mandatory for some degrees to be taught in Dutch?”). Those few students who complain about “the terrible rubbish collection system with the expensive bin bags” or who want “more green spaces in the city” are closer to the mark. A number of international students observed that “a lot of things are actually very well organised here already”.
When students do appear in the party manifestos, it is usually related to student housing (see box). Fair, many thought when the point was raised. Almost all of them can list examples of badly maintained houses, high rents and frustrating landlords. Is that going to determine their vote? Not completely, said most. “I think it’s important how they approach a range of topics,” said a student from Luxembourg at UNS40. A Dutch student nearby added: “But they do have to be pro-student. I’ve seen posters for parties who want to take Maastricht ‘back’ and would, I guess, prefer students to be as far outside the city as possible.”