Not Just Bikes 🇳🇱Oct 29

I voted today!

Now that I'm a Dutch citizen I am eligible to vote in the general elections for the first time!

It's comical how big the voting paper (stembiljet) is, but thankfully I'm old enough to have used paper maps, so I was able to easily re-fold it like a pro.

Photo by 1Veertje (CC-BY-SA 3.0)

Show threadUlrik Nyman ⬡Oct 29

@notjustbikes what is the election system?

Do you just select one candidate or do you prioritise more than one?

Show threadMartijn VosOct 29

@UlrikNyman @notjustbikes

One candidate, who belongs to a party. If the candidate doesn't meet the voting threshold for a seat (common for everybody except the handful most popular ones) , the votes go to the party and are assigned according to the party list. Candidates that do make the threshold (rare, but I'm hoping we can get Barbara Kathman elected through these preference votes) are guaranteed one of the seats for their party.

But it's mostly just proportional representation.

Show threadChris Abbey
@mcv @notjustbikes @UlrikNyman so does that mean a single race could have multiple candidates from the same party? So like if party x had 5 candidates, who each got 10% of the vote, then party x has 50% and beats the single candidate from party y who got 48% alone?
Oct 29 at 4:06pmWeb
Show threadMartijn VosOct 29

@cabbey @UlrikNyman @notjustbikes

It's proportional representation. If a party gets 50% of the vote, they get 50% of the seats. (This never happens; I think 34% in the early 1980s was the highest I've seen.)

Show threadChris AbbeyOct 29
@mcv @notjustbikes @UlrikNyman nice. And that tells me a healthy multi party system too… not our broken duopoly.
Show threadUlrik Nyman ⬡Oct 29

@cabbey @mcv @notjustbikes

But remember that the causation goes the other way.

You need to change the election system to brake out of the duopoly. Start a local grassroots organization for change of the election system. Get the left and right to agree on that election reform is the most important change.