MORE WOMEN ELECTED!

MAKE A DONATION

The elections for the Province and the Water Board took place on 15 March 2023. And it worked again: thanks to preferential votes, 34 extra women were elected, 33 of which instead of a man! Because there were already slightly more women on (some) electoral lists, the number of women are rising considerably: in the Provinces this has now risen from an average of 33% to 40%, and in the Water Board it has risen from 28% to 34%. That’s higher than ever! 

 

Vote for a Woman is an independent organization with a major impact on Dutch politics. Since our founding in 2017, more than 600 additional women have been elected through our campaigns! And every year we train more women and girls to become and stay active. We do this partly thanks to our donors. Will you help us?

There are no events planned at the moment.

VOTE SMART: HOW IT WORKS

Do you want more women to be elected? Vote smart! Don’t vote automatically for the first woman on the list: due to her high position, she will usually take a seat regardless of your vote. Look down, to the women who really need your vote to be elected. Below, we explain to you how this works.

Find the party you want to vote for.

How many seats will your party get, according to the polls?

Vote for a woman, lower on the candidate list. This way, you can elect her with your Preferential vote.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Vote for a Woman is committed to improving the political representation and emancipation of women, getting and keeping more women elected and politically active. Vote for a Woman has mainly become known for its voting campaigns, but we are also involved in many other things regarding women in politics. For example, we organize training days for female candidates and aspirants. We have mentor programs in which we link political talent (f) to politicians (f). And we organize election debates to give female candidates a platform. We also advise political parties, municipalities, organizations and companies on how they can work more inclusively. Finally, we also conduct research into the number of women in politics, and about issues such as what prevents girls and women from entering politics. So we work on our mission in several ways.

Since the founding of Vote for a Woman in 2017, more than 600 additional women have been elected through our campaigns! In those campaigns, we share the Preferential vote tactic; by calling on voters to vote for women lower down the list (specifically: lower than the polled number of seats), women who were placed in so-called “ineligible” places, could still be elected could still be elected. For example, in the recent Provincial Council and Water Board elections, 34 extra women were elected by means of the Preferential vote.

For more information, visit ‘about us‘!

Quality is extremely important. This is why it matters to vote for someone you consider good, for example a woman who stands for your ideals. It does, however, make a difference when you take gender into consideration: with more women and Diversity in politics, the quality of politics will improve. It is proven that better decisions are made in the fields of – amongst others – education, care, environment and economics. Currently, there is a shortage of both women and Diversity in politics and this undercuts the quality of our democracy. To improve this, it is essential that we elect a Diversity of people. Because the variety and Diversity of all these experiences guarantee that everyone’s voice can be heard.

Besides, politics set an example. When there are equal opportunities for everyone in politics, it can result in equal opportunities in the rest of society (1). A higher Diversity in people has many positive effects: such as more trust in politics, an increased acceptance of the voting results, and it breaks stereotypes about who should be in politics (2).

You have to vote smart! Do not automatically vote for the first woman on the ballot: she doesn’t really need your vote, because she already has a high ranking. If you want to elect more women, you have to look lower on the ballot. Especially the candidates who do not have a high ranking, need your vote to get a seat on the city council.

How do you know what ‘lower on the list’ is? You can check how many seats your party of choice has at the moment, and you can check if there are any polls. Imagine that the party currently has 5 seats, and according to the polls the party will stay this big, then you can vote for a woman from number 5. These are the women who really need your vote.

A woman with a lower spot on the ballot, can still be elected if she gets enough votes. She will get a place higher on the ballot and often takes the position which would have gone to a man instead. This is how you vote for extra women in politics! But above all: find a woman who is right for you by looking into various parties and candidates on the ballot.

Amazing to hear you’re considering that! We are happy to help you. Below you will find several tips, but also check out the ‘mentor network‘ page for further information:

  1. Sign up for the Vote for a Woman Mentor Network. This is a party-wide network of female political aspirants and politicians. In the mentor network, women who have doubts about becoming politically active, or who already have a concrete political interest and ambition, are linked to female politicians. Something for you? Send an email with who you are, where you live and where your ambitions lie to mentor@stemopeenvrouw.com
  2. View our offer in the agenda. We regularly provide training and organize events that you can join.
  3. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed about our activities.

Thanks to the work of Vote for a Woman, hundreds more women have already been elected to politics, there is more awareness surrounding the subject and we inspire and train more new talent every year. This is bearing fruit: many people have started voting smarter and political parties are more often putting more women on the electoral list. Although many successes have already been achieved, our work is not yet done. Thanks to our donors, we can continue our work and get closer to the goal of making all women feel politically heard. With your contribution we reach more people and make more impact. Are you in? Donations start from 1 euro!

DONATE

Not enough women are involved in politics.

Only a third of the politicians are women, and in this group there is little Diversity. This is why Vote for a Woman has been holding voting campaigns explaining how to vote smart for women. This resulted in over 150 more elected women, from local councils to the House of Representatives. We also scout and train political talent.

In 2021, we’re on a special mission: 50 per cent women in the House of Representatives.

There are more women on the ballots than ever before: on average 40 per cent. If we are able to convince plenty of people to vote smart, to vote for a woman, we’ll be history makers, turning the House of Representatives into a place consisting half
of women. Please contribute to this historic event and become a donor. 

Every little helps.