On Wednesday, the Netherlands kicked off a nationwide vote to elect a new parliament and a replacement for outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
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At 7:30 a.m. local time, all 9,000 polling stations opened their doors. On a dry, fresh election day, with temperatures of 4 to 8 degrees Celsius, the Dutch people got the chance to vote for the 150 seats in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the parliament.
A total of 26 parties joined the race in a fragmented Dutch political landscape. Rutte, who led the past four governments, cast his vote in The Hague, for the last time as PM.
The previous elections in March 2021 ended in a landslide victory for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) of Rutte with 34 of the 150 seats. According to the latest polls conducted by Peilingwijzer, four parties are in the race to become the largest party.
The rightist VVD with new leader Dilan Yesilgoz is on a predicted 26 to 30 seats, the far-right populist Party for Freedom (PVV) of Geert Wilders on 25 to 29, the GreenLeft-Labor alliance GroenLinks-PvdA with Frans Timmermans on 23 to 27 and newcomer New Social Contract (NSC), led by Pieter Omtzigt, on a predicted 19 to 23 seats.
Residents aged 18 and older are allowed to vote, which amounts to an estimated 13.3 million eligible voters.
The polling stations are open from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time, and the first exit poll is expected just after 9 p.m. local time. The first preliminary results will probably follow after midnight.