Amayzine

Quite remarkable things about voting in 2022

Adeline reads the newspaper

Just see me as your remarkable reporter, taking you through the municipal elections of 2022. Cabaret artist Alex Ploeg aptly said at the table with Jinek: ‘Municipal elections are the wild west of politics.’ And that's exactly what it is.

At the VVD in (quite Christian) Katwijk, they thought it was a good idea to hand out condoms (?), Local Hellendoorn sings you from the party and in Weesp they have brilliantly considered it: there you can go straight to the bar after voting right away. For the first time, I regret not living in Weesp. Hold on tight, because the municipal elections are once again a source of entertainment.

On horseback
Because of corona, we got a lot of interesting polling places. It seems to have stuck with municipalities, because everything came out of the closet for the municipal elections as well. By the way, it’s not just remarkable locations, because this year you can also vote on horseback. Excuse me? Yes indeed, in Sint-Oedenrode you can vote these days on horseback or pony, if you happen to have one. A drive-thru for riders. They thought it was quite convenient at riding school De Pijnhorst.

I just announced that I would have loved to vote in Weesp, because there is a polling place in the Wispe Brewery. Coincidentally, that is one of the coziest places in Weesp. I say: around 4:00 PM a scribble with the red pencil and straight into the grand café to toast to your vote.

‘What shall we vote for?’
In Hellendoorn, the party Local Hellendoorn went all out with a parody of ‘What shall we drink’. In the local club building, the party gathered and the list puller got to dance in the middle with a rather gross red pencil. ‘What shall we vote for?’ Ah, just take a look for yourself. This is one in the category image-that-will-haunt-you-forever.

Keep your attention for a moment, because Wijchen (pronounced: Wiegen) really has the most incomprehensible campaign ever online. It's a bunch of guys in kilts running across a meadow with their bare bottoms. At least politics is making some progress there, that's for sure. Scroll to 04:00 for bare bottoms.

Old acquaintance
And for all the 30-somethings among us: Rita Verdonk has been spotted in The Hague. She is number two on the list for Hart voor Den Haag. That's definitely one in the category remarkable matters. Although it gets even more remarkable, because number one Richard de Mos could very well be suspended due to a prosecution from the Public Prosecution Service. Could Rita really become the laughing second? By the way, the party made a cringeworthy parody of the already cringeworthy ‘I got a ticket’ by René Froger and rapper Donnie, but unfortunately, it is offline due to a copyright claim. Yes, rules apply to politicians too.

A little mishap in Kampen
The municipal elections are also the only moment when all the billboards in your village or city are plastered. For me, CDA, D66, and Dorpsbelangen follow each other in the blink of an eye, but in Kampen, they really know what a catchy billboard is. Although I doubt whether starters and seniors are jumping to vote. Wopke Hoekstra must have sent a message about that after the Jinek broadcast last night.

And of course, the proof that VVD members in Katwijk really thought it was a brilliant plan to recruit with condoms. Apparently, it's an old trick, because GroenLinks, D66 Vlaardingen, and VVD Woerden went ahead with quotes like ‘Feel the Liberal in you’ and ‘GroenLinks likes to be on top of it’. I think I need to recover from this campaign strategy, although it probably works around three in the morning when the pubs close.

Finally: if there is one moment to pull yourself together and go to the polls on foot, by bike, or on horseback, it is now. Your vote ensures that we live in a democratic country. And we see very closely that this is not a given.