Election day explained: from polls to exit polls and results

Research agencies ask people in the Netherlands for their opinions throughout the year. They want to know what Dutch people think about certain topics. They usually do this via a survey or by email, on the internet or by telephone. They sometimes do this at the request of the government or another organisation. Sometimes they also do this in collaboration with a newspaper or television programme.

Of course, researchers cannot ask everyone in the Netherlands which party they are going to vote for, which is why '

Polls are not reliable predictions. Not everyone has already decided which party to vote for. Many people remain undecided until election day

The polling stations are open from 07:30 on election day. Throughout the day, news media cover the election. For example, there are news reports on how many people went to vote. And videos of party leaders voting themselves. There are also exit polls: people who have already voted are asked who they voted for. The polling stations close at 21:00. Then the people at the polling stations start counting the votes. When all the votes from all the polling stations in the municipality have been counted, they are added together and announced.

On TV, there are several news media that have an all-night programme about the election. They talk about what the exit polls say about the possible outcome, they discuss turnout and have interviews with experts. Later in the evening, the preliminary results for each municipality come in. One by one. Usually the

Want to read more about how things work at a polling station in the Netherlands? Then read more on RefugeeHelp.