{"id":183055,"date":"2025-10-29T15:37:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T14:37:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=183055"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:27:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:27:57","slug":"verkiezingsdag-dus-je-geeft-die-pas-en-dan-mag-je-lieffie-ik-heb-toch-ook-geen-idee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2025\/10\/29\/verkiezingsdag-dus-je-geeft-die-pas-en-dan-mag-je-lieffie-ik-heb-toch-ook-geen-idee\/","title":{"rendered":"Election day: ‘So, you just hand over the card and then you can vote?’ ‘Sweetie, I really have no idea either’"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Rotterdam alone, hundreds of volunteers are ready on Wednesday, to help thousands of voters at 331 polling stations. The morning shift at polling station 668 in the RSC\/RVSV society in Kralingen is enthusiastic.<\/p>\n

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The final preparations before polling station 668 in the RSC\/RVSV society can open.<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>

The election day starts early. Volunteer Mohammed began setting up at 4 o\u2019clock. The traces of the party the night before have all been cleared away \u2013 apart from a glass with two last sips of beer and the ever-sticky floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey took it a bit easier and tidied up in advance\u201d, says Michel van Wijk, the building manager at RSC\/RVSV who himself has long since outgrown his student years. He thinks it\u2019s great that the society has been a polling station since the pandemic years. \u201cBack then extra locations were needed because the care homes dropped out. This is an ideal place, and it\u2019s always busy here at elections. Members and former members like to come, and local people like to pop in.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The members of the polling station go through the checklist together, discuss the division of tasks, and conclude: we're all looking forward to today.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPien D\u00fcthmann<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Night club Bikini is in the hands of a different kind of members this Wednesday: the members of the polling station, under the leadership of Jillian Benders. His team has been on site since 6.30. The voting booths were already up then, thanks to Mohammed. It\u2019s their job to set the rest up.<\/p>\n

Jillian checks that the ballot boxes are truly empty at opening. The posters are put up: the enlarged candidate list in the corridor, the thank-you-for-voting poster by the exit. Tea and coffee are made behind the bar. Michel looks around the building for a chair with armrests \u2013 because that is required by the rules, says Jillian. \u201cThere must be at least one chair with armrests for people who have difficulty walking, for if they want to watch the voting process or the counting.\u201d Mohammed finds it a bit dark inside and fetches a lamp with a small fluorescent tube from home. After the division of tasks (\u201cWe rotate everyone, except the role of chair\u201d) and a discussion about snacks (\u201cLet\u2019s start with the kruidnoten<\/em>\u201c), polling station 668 is ready.<\/p>\n

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Job is the third to vote this Wednesday at the RSC\/RVSV society. Chair Jillian sits in the middle of the table.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPien D\u00fcthmann<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Ready? Time to vote!<\/h2>

At sunrise, at 7.28, the first voters arrive. So they still have to wait two minutes. Immediately four young men are waiting, three in white trainers and one in suede pointed shoes. Three have their hair slicked back. When asked why they are so early, they answer in unison: \u201cwe still have to get to the office!\u201d Job has just graduated in Business Administration and is heading to Amsterdam for his internship at KLM. \u201cIt\u2019s the nearest station, and I was a member and still like to come.\u201d He is third in line.<\/p>\n

A local resident in a tailored brown pinstripe suit with a pram says: \u201cWe live almost next door, so this location is the easiest. And it\u2019s certainly nice to be able to look inside.\u201d Jolanda, in her white coat with a fur collar and leopard-print bag, has lived around the corner for thirty years. She laughs at the slightly sticky floor. \u201cThat was to be expected, because they can party here, you know. Fortunately the nuisance has decreased in recent years. Since it\u2019s possible, I always vote here. So convenient being so close.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The three available voting booths in polling room 668 were already occupied five minutes after opening.<\/span><\/p>

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RSC\/RVSV president Filip Stijnis proudly says by phone that this is the busiest polling station in Kralingen. He arrives at the society a little later. \u201cAnd on into the late hours, if needed. We do that often around here, but for tonight I signed up as a ballot counter.\u201d That it would be busy was immediately noticeable to Jillian. \u201cAt some stations there are four members, here we need two more \u2013 and I saw a second ballot box. Then I knew for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t

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Een lijst van afbeeldingen<\/h2>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t
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