Over 900,000 non-Dutch nationals are eligible to vote in water board elections on March 15, figures from national statistics agency CBS show.

In total, 916,487 foreign nationals over the age of 18 were living in the Netherlands at the end of last year. The water board elections are open to everyone who was officially registered as living in the country by the end of January but these potential voters are largely being ignored.

Although international residents can vote for the waterboards, most local authorities have done little to encourage them to take part, according to Dutch News readers. Amsterdam, for example, has provided no information in English apart from a website post.

By contrast, the Hague has a page of English information in the council election newspaper while Eindhoven sent all potential voters a letter in both Dutch and English.

‘Regardless, having been in NL for 15 years and as a victim of #Brexit (UK passport; Dutch resident = no #RightToVote), I appreciate the fact that this is the only vote I have anywhere … at all,’ reader Mike from Limburg said.

Turnout is traditionally low for the provincial elections, with just 56% of those eligible to vote taking part in 2019. Turnout is even lower for the waterboards, with just 51% voting four years ago.

Turnout

Turnout is traditionally low for the provincial elections, with just 56% of those eligible to vote taking part in 2019. Turnout is even lower for the waterboards, with just 51% voting four years ago.

Few people are aware of what the waterboards do

The role of the water boards dates back centuries and their job is literally to manage water in their territory, a task which includes maintaining dykes and sluice gates, ensuring that water levels remain constant and that waste water is properly purified.

Each water board has its own elected governing board which has 18 to 30 seats, and an executive board. The chairman, or mayor, is know as the dijkgraaf.

Just six of the 21 Dutch water boards have information on their websites in English, even though everyone registered to live in the Netherlands – even if they have only been here a few weeks – is able to vote in the March 15 elections.

Information in English

The electoral council website
The Hague city council
Amsterdam city council
Water management in Brabant, what is at stake (podcast)

Political parties

Water Natuurlijk (the GroenLinks/D66 fusion for the water board elections) has info in English, Turkish and Arabic.
PvdA Amstel, Gooi en Vecht
CDA

The 21 water boards, with English indicated where available.

Aa en Maas – Den Bosch
Amstel, Gooi en Vecht – Amsterdam, Amstelveen, Hilversum (English)
Brabantse Delta – Breda
De Dommel – Eindhoven, Tilburg
Delfland – The Hague
Drents Overijsselse Delta – Zwolle
Hollands Noorderkwartier – Alkmaar, Bergen (English)
Hollandse Delta – Rotterdam
Hunze en Aa’s  – Groningen
Limburg – Maastricht
Noorderzijlvest – Groningen
Rijn en IJssel – Arnhem
Rijnland – Leiden, Haarlem
Rivierenland – Nijmegen (English)
Scheldestromen – Middleburg
Schieland en de Krimpenerwaard Rotterdam – (English)
De Stichtse Rijnlanden – Utrecht (English)
Vallei en Veluwe – Apeldoorn, Amersfoort
Vechtstromen – Enschede
Wetterskip Fryslân – Leeuwarden
Zuiderzeeland Almere, Lelystad (English)

If you come across any good sources of information about the water board elections and who to vote for, please forward any links to editor@dutchnews.nl so we can keep the list up to date.