Dutch take to the polls from their cars and bikes
Dutch take to the polls from their cars and bikes
Three days of voting began in the Netherlands on Monday in a parliamentary election seen as a referendum on the Dutch government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Emer McCarthy reports.
Dutch take to the polls from their cars and bikes
Voters in Amsterdam took their bikes and cars on Monday (March 15) to cast their ballots in the Dutch national election.
With a ban on gatherings of more than two people, voting has been spread over three days to help ensure social distancing at polling stations.
An exception on the 9 p.m.
National curfew - the first since World War Two - will also be made for people out casting their votes.
The election is widely seen as a referendum on the Dutch government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
The country was the last country in the European Union to start vaccinating and it flip-flopped over face masks.
But hospitals didn't run out of beds through two COVID-19 infection peaks.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte is widely expected to gain enough support to secure a fourth term, with Geert Wilders of the anti-Islam Freedom Party expected to come second.
Coronavirus infections in the Netherlands are now rising at the fastest pace in months, and the National Institute for Health has advised against any swift easing out of lockdown.
On Sunday (March 14), police broke up a demonstration by thousands of people in The Hague to protest against the lockdown and curfew.
It follows several days of anti-lockdown riots in January.