It is an odd thing to spend so much time writing about an election taking place in the country you live in – which will determine the taxes you pay and the way your children will be educated – but which you are excluded from voting in.

Only ‘Dutch nationals’ have been given the call-up for next week’s vote. In the era of the global nomad, when people are becoming increasingly used to moving from country to country to work, the qualifications for voting need a complete overhaul.
Hundreds of thousands of people throughout Europe have no say in how their taxes are being spent or how their old-aged pension is being organised.
The Danes and the Irish have to live in Denmark and Ireland to vote in their national elections; British nationals lose their voting rights if they have lived abroad too long. Every country has its own rules.
Of course, one could easily get to vote – by becoming Dutch. That would solve the problem for now. But when you move on to Spain in a few years time, do you then ditch the Dutch passport and go for a Spanish one?
So which political party will come out for the expat’s right to vote? DutchNews.nl is now running a poll to find out how our readers would cast their ballots. Parties take note. Perhaps they could be a handy source of votes in the 2010 general election?