- Student
- 27/10/2025
Voting for the first time — what’s it like?
With the fall of the previous government, Dutch voters are heading to the polls again sooner than expected. For students who have turned eighteen in the meantime, that’s a silver lining. Cursor spoke with three students who will be casting their votes for the very first time in these elections.
During the previous election on November 22, 2023, they were just too young to participate. By now, however, Yannick van Dooren (18), Koshin Guha (19), and Rutger Idema (19)—coincidentally all Computer Science students—have crossed that threshold. Besides their study choice, they also share the same view on voting rights: being able to vote feels great. “I’m really excited to finally vote,” says Van Dooren.
Political interest
All three already had an interest in politics. “I’ve always found politics interesting—not just Dutch politics, but also, for example, American politics,” Van Dooren explains. Now that he can vote, he pays even more attention to political news. “I’m allowed to vote now, so it’s important to know what I’m voting for. I pay closer attention when political topics come up on TV, and I do more research than before.”
Guha and Idema were also following both international and Dutch politics before turning eighteen. They already had a good sense of what was going on, and during the previous elections—while still in high school—they took an online voting quiz (StemWijzer). “We did this with the whole class, to see what we would vote if we could,” says Guha.
Idema also took part in the Model European Parliament (MEP), a simulation in which high school students role-play the European Parliament to experience what it’s like to be a Member of the European Parliament. “It was a chance to do something new and extraordinary. That whole experience was really valuable.”
Preparing
This time, there are no hypothetical voting quizzes or simulations—it’s the real deal. On October 29, the three students will head to the polls for the first time. How are they preparing? By doing a lot of research. “I’ve done multiple quizzes online, like StemWijzer and PartijenWijzer. They helped me narrow down which parties align best with my views,” Guha says. “In the Netherlands, we don’t have a two-party system like in the US or many other countries, so there are many parties to choose from, and a lot of overlap between them.”
After the quizzes, he compares his top results by reading party programs and watching debates. “I try to do a bit of everything,” he says. Van Dooren and Idema agree with this approach. They believe filling out a single quiz isn’t enough. “That’s just checkbox politics,” says Idema. “It only shows whether a party is for or against something, but you often need more context to really understand their position.” For those who don’t have time to read all the party programs, he has a tip: “NOS op 3 makes summary videos of all the programs. Those are really useful to watch.”
Topics
When asked what topics they find most important, all three mention the housing market. Guha talks about the planned rent freeze for social housing, which fell through when the government collapsed. “I live in one of the Haven buildings, which is social housing, so this really affected me,” he explains. The housing market for buyers also plays a role in their votes. “I’d like to be able to buy something myself one day,” Van Dooren adds.
In addition to this shared concern, they each have personal areas of interest. Van Dooren is curious about plans on nuclear energy, Idema focuses on inflation and rising prices, and Guha says he’s mainly interested in how budgets are allocated.
Voting rights
All in all, these students are well-prepared—and above all, excited—to cast their first votes. “It feels good to finally be able to have a say in society,” says Guha. All three stress how important it is to make use of your right to vote. Idema: “If there’s something in the world or in the Netherlands that bothers you and you want something to be done about it, then you should just vote.”
They also emphasize the importance of making an informed decision. “Talk to people who disagree with you, so you can understand the other side better,” Idema says. Guha adds: “Get your information from both left- and right-leaning sources. If you consume a blend of both, you’ll understand both perspectives, and then you can make up your own mind.”
Discussion