The Netherlands will be the first country in Europe to vote for the European Parliament next Thursday. Most other countries vote on Sunday. The Netherlands should do so too.
Sunday voting has been banned in the Netherlands since time immemorial. Extremist Christian political parties agreed years ago to respect Sunday rest. In fact, this is never up for discussion in Dutch politics. There are good reasons to change that.
Almost all other European countries vote on Sunday. This also makes it the day when the most international publicity around the EU elections is generated. The results will not be announced until late Sunday evening and Monday. And so is the Dutch result. Until then, we will have to make do with rough estimates of opinion polls in the Netherlands, which will be announced on Thursday evening.
In order to attract more attention to the elections and communicate more with the international world, which includes more and more young people, voting on Sunday would also be a wise thing for the Netherlands. It is also better for the democratic experience if the people who cast their votes hear the results as quickly as possible. Voting on the same day with the rest of Europe would also be better for reactions to the political situation in Brussels and for interpretation of the results.
Traditionally, elections in the Netherlands are always held on Wednesday. Sunday is taboo, but there are also religious objections to voting on Friday and Saturday. Because the European Union decided to hold elections from June 6 to 9, throughout the European Union, the Netherlands must deviate from the well-known Wednesday. Then it would be more convenient to choose Sunday immediately, just like other countries.
Respecting the Sunday rest is almost impossible to maintain. The group that actually gets a full rest on Sundays is getting very small. We've been able to shop on Sundays for years, many people have to work on Sundays, and the vast majority of teams play football on Sundays. It is also difficult to argue that countries that vote on Sunday, such as Germany, Belgium and France, will not respect religious customs.
