Netherlands: Voting begins in local elections

Nearly 12.5 million registered voters will cast their ballots in elections held in 335 municipalities

By Abdullah Asiran

THE HAGUE (AA) - People began voting on Wednesday to elect the municipal councils in the Netherlands for the next four years.

Voting began at 7.30 a.m. local time (0630GMT) and will continue till 9 p.m. (2000GMT). The official results are scheduled to be announced on Friday.

Nearly 12.5 million registered voters will cast their ballots in the elections held in 335 municipalities.

Housing, integration and jobs are considered as three key issues of the election which coincides with the Intelligence and Security Services Act referendum.

Hundreds of Turkish candidates are competing in the election as nearly 300,000 Turks are eligible to vote.

The DENK (Think) Party -- formed by ethnic Turkish lawmakers Tunahan Kuzu and Selcuk Ozturk in 2015 after their expulsion from the Labor Party -- is also running in the elections.

The party had participated for the first time in last year's general election and managed to secure three seats.

Kaynak:

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