In the Netherlands, people do not have to register to vote. Our government knows where people live, and voting passes are sent to their homes. So voting records do not show party affiliations.
In municipal archives, you can often find “Kiezerslijsten” that show the people who were eligible to vote. Voting itself is anonymous, so these lists will not tell you what your ancestors’ political views were.
Newspapers, which can be searched at Delpher, often provide the first clue that your ancestor was involved in politics, for example if they ran for office or were volunteering for a political party.
If your ancestor was involved in politics, you may find them in the records left by these political organizations. These are rarely available online, and can usually be found in regional archives or the National Archives in The Hague.
Voting. Credits: Jac. de Nijs, collection Nationaal Archief (CC-BY)
About Yvette Hoitink
Hello Yvette,
Do you know whether Kandidatenlijsten (lists of candidats for political offices) are stored in Archives in a central place? They would provide first class genealogical information. And I assume the information is not restricted, even for living persons as the lists have all been published and dirtibuted to large numbers of voters.
If only there were a central repository to search through all of them. . .