To the front page

11/1 Jurists want to stay in Oudemanhuispoort

8/2 Mayor’s portrait

8/2 Websites for social cohesion

7/2 Spreading tourism proceeds with difficulty

7/2 GroenLinks on districts: Be a man

6/2 Zuideramstel opens new office on Sabbath

5/2 The truth about integration

4/2 Wilders has little support on Amsterdam

3/2 Elite involved in neighbourhood

2/2 Johnnie Walker avoids taxes in Amsterdam

1/2 Rotterdam to tinker with district councils as well

31/1 Wooden rowing boats to disappear from Amstel

31/1 ZeeburgTV launched

27/1 Privacy activists to mess up loyalty card system

27/1 A few were still coughing, but that was an act

27/1 Chrisis in de Baarsjes

26/1 Youth have positive view of districts

24/1 Action groups call for Carmel and Jaffa boycott

24/1 PvdA members dismiss plan for districts

23/1 KLM takes on crisis with new uniform

23/1 District office not squatted

21/1 Merge districts

20/1 Closing squat bar Vrankrijk not necessary

20/1 Cleaners welcome new Schiphol director

18/1 Palestine at the Jewish Historical Museum

18/1 What is the right size for a district?

17/1 PvdA Oost against fewer districts

16/1 Committee: 7 districts by 2010

15/1 Soldiers may attend Afghanistan debate after all

15/1 Bait bike leads to arrest

14/1 Youth for Christ to republish vacancies

13/1 Paintings of the Zuidas

13/1 New Youth for Christ contoversy

11/1 Social cohesion initiative raises eyebrows

10/1 Fewer districts in 2010

10/1 Zuidas: People feel that we are losers

9/1 Fun on the ice - but not for all

9/1 Supermarket coupon fraud thwarted

9/1 I Amsterdam must remain exclusive

8/1 Use term Apartheid in every discussion

8/1 No city kiosk in Amsterdam yet

7/1 Snow

7/1 Fatima Elatik to run Zeeburg

7/1 Municipal managers to return to shop floor

4/1 Police: take photo of strange people

3/1 Gaza protest criticises politicians

1/1 Thousands to protest against attacks on Gaza

1/1 Mustapha Laboui leaves district council

2008 Archive

2007 Archive

2006 Archive

2005 Archive

Last-minute voting help

21 November 2006 – Tomorrow, the Netherlands will elect a new Parliament. Below, some last-minute voting tips.

Where?
This year, voters for the first time received a voting pass that allows them to choose which polling station to use. The addresses of all polling stations can be found here (pdf). By the way, the nearest polling station is printed on the voting pass as well.

“Those who already want to get hold of a Christmas tree, can vote Wednesday at the Tuincentrum Osdorp”, local television station At5 suggests. Whoever does not want to vote in a school building, can go to one of six alternative voting locations:

• V&D (La Place), Kalverstraat 203, 7.30 am to 9 pm.
• Dienst Wonen, Jodenbreestraat 25, 8 am to 6 pm.
• V&D, Buikslotermeerplein 123, 9.30 am to 6 pm.
• Tuincentrum Osdorp, Osdorperweg 247, 9.00 am to 6 pm.
• Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105, 7.30 am to 9 pm.
• Infocentrum Zuidoost, Bijlmerplein 79, 7.30 am to 9 pm.

When?
Most polling stations are open from 7.30 am to 9 pm. However, some alternative voting locations have other opening hours.

What to bring?
The voting pass. If you have lost it then that is a pity, for voting with an ID instead of a voting pass is no longer possible. By the way, the polling committee may ask you to show your ID anyway.

How?
With a red pencil of course. The ‘We do not trust voting machines’ campaign group disclosed that voting machines are unreliable, so we do not use them anymore in Amsterdam.

Further, you will have to do it yourself. In March’s local elections, voters in some polling stations were assisted by their children or their husbands a bit too often. Polling committees tried to deter them, which led to some disturbances. This time, members of polling stations have been trained to keep a close watch.

The polling committees are not the only ones to see to it that the elections proceed in a correct manner. The OSCE has sent an observation mission and according to Rtv Noord-Holland, MP Gonny van Oudenallen will make an inspection tour to polling stations.

Which party to vote for?
Actually, you might have finally made a decision by now. For those who have not made up their mind yet, News from Amsterdam has assessed which party is most Amsterdam-friendly.

Which party will other Amsterdammers vote for?
Many will vote Socialist Party, but the Social-Democrats (PvdA) will remain the largest party among Amsterdam voters, according to the latest O+S poll.

The outcome?
Mayor Job Cohen has deployed additional volunteers to count the votes, but all the same it will of course take longer than when a voting machine was used. All in all, a traditional election night is to be expected. At5, as usual, has invited Felix Rottenberg, Hubert Smeets en Jort Kelder to comment (starting 8.50 pm, in Dutch).

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