Why it is special that we are allowed to vote

My first time with a red pencil in a booth with a curtain like that, I could hardly take it, so exciting. In the ugliest gymnasium of the village with awkward swinging doors, where I, as a four-year-old toddler, also had my first gym class (not a natural talent) and my shuffling debut with a boy at the children's disco. By the way, I still don't understand why that ballot is so incredibly large (me and my form barely fit in the booth), but hey, nitpicker, I had the right to vote; the most important thing. That pencil sweated quite a bit in my palm when I colored the booth of my choice red. Yes, I was eligible to vote and I felt like I was of national importance.

That first time was actually a referendum, a bit like the dry voting before the real work. Even though we know since Brexit that a referendum can also bring your country down, but so be it. You probably feel it already: I find voting extremely important. When the election frenzy broke out, I watched all the debates that Dutch television could offer with my mother and brother. And I clicked my way through the voting guides on the internet (yes, also for my eighteenth and yes, even though they are a bit manipulated).

“The first election including women was in 1922”

I also don't quite understand not voting. Why wouldn't you want to have an influence on what happens to your country? Yes, that vote is one of millions, but I believe it matters. For my part, go ahead to the polls to submit a blank form, that's also a signal for political The Hague. And don't worry, that blank vote doesn't automatically go to the largest party. It counts towards turnout, they do something by ratio, but it doesn't just blindly go along with the result. Even though there is probably a party you can identify with just a little bit? Ultimately, the government becomes a milder version of what the party is currently shouting very loudly (just keep that in the back of your mind when you tick the boxes). And one more thing, especially consider this: women were not allowed to vote in the past and now they are. To give you an idea: in 1919, women in the Netherlands officially gained the right to vote. The first elections including women were in 1922. That's 95 years ago. To put it bluntly, our voting rights are just as old as a grandmother of considerable age. In Kuwait, women gained voting rights in 2005, but in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (yes,

Dubai) it still does not exist to this day. Not even for the gentlemen by the way.

Our voting rights are the biggest showcase for equality between men and women, equality between rich and poor, man man man, even for the equality between a detainee (by proxy, no worries) and a free person. And if you don't see any value in sifting through those party programs? I'll do it for you, I promise. You'll get the party's highlights in bite-sized pieces before the elections. But will you promise me that you will vote?