Tomorrow is my first opportunity to participate in Dutch democracy. I'm not sure if it's because I've now been officially registered in the country for a certain number of years now, or if it's because I'm now a property owner, or what -- but I'm going to vote for the municipal elections tomorrow.
The only prolem is that I haven't figured out exactly how I'm going to vote.
I've tried a couple of the different on-line "stemwijzer" (voting test) sites, plus I've read a number of the printed materials put out by the government and by the parties themselves. But all this has done is help me to decide how not to use my vote. That is, I'm pretty sure that I will not be casting my vote for the CDA, who has chosen to make the main thrust of their Amsterdam campaign a "Big Brother" like camera system to capture any wrong-doing that might happen throughout the city... And I can't really see myself voting for the Party of the Animals (making animal rights the primary issue) or the nationalistic PVV (a sort of anti-immigration party, like the 21st Century Dutch version of the 19th Centry American "Know Nothing" party)... But who should I vote for?
I'd be very open, if anyone had any advice they wanted to pass along to me.
For me, I'm voting primarily as (1) a follower of Jesus, (2) an immigrant, and (3) someone who naturally tends to prefer a less invasive form of government (i.e. someone who could tell the leerplichtambtenaar to relax a little bit). But are there really any parties who tend to combine these issues? Open to religious freedom, and even cooperation between the church and the government... But also more liberal in its views on immigration and immigrants' rights... While still entrusting power to the people, more than to the bureaucracy??? Do these terms ring any bells, for those of you who might be more familiar with the Dutch political system?
I've got some ideas for how I might use my vote, if all else fails. I'm not going into things totally ignorant. But if there are any last-minute pieces of advice that could be thrown my way, I would certainly appreciate it.