Where is my polling station

WaarIsMijnStemlokaal.nl

WhereIsMyPollingStation: The space to find the location and info on all polling stations in the Netherlands.

Open State is working to strenghten democracy by increasing transparency and making info more accessible to citizens. Around election time, we do this by centrally collecting information, enrichting the data and making it suitable for reuse.

Since the 2017 elections to the House of Representatives, we have been collecting data from all polling stations in the Netherlands for every election. We do with support and in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, VNG Realization and the Dutch Electoral Council. Individual donations from citizens also make this project possible.

Through an open standard, all municipalities can upload their polling station data to the platform. This data is open and can be reused in various applications.

At WhereIsMyPollingStation, voters can find exactly where polling stations are located and how accessible the stations are. Accessibility means a polling station to be easily reachable and suitable for everyone, including people who are in need of additional support requirements. This includes barrier-free entrances, wheelchair-friendly spaces, good accessibility by public transport and parking facilities, adapted voting booths, a low-stimulus environment and clear signage.

The data is provided by municipalities and, if necessary, scraped by us. We then present it clearly on WhereIsMyPollingStation and make it available as open data so that everyone can freely use it. In the past, the data has often been used by the media, researchers and developers to map and analyze election results by polling station. The Volkskrant has published such analyses for elections in 2019, 2022 and 2023. Pointer (KRO-NCRV) and the NOS have also used the data for articles on election results and polling station accessibility. Pointer of KRO-NCRV has also made use of ‘Where is my polling station’ data.

WhereIsMyPollingStation is one of thirty initiatives monitored by data.europe.eu to measure the impact of open data in Europe.

Why we run WhereIsMyPollingStation:

Our goal is to improve the information landscape around elections: we want people to be able to easily find the information most relevant to them when it comes to voting.

This has three main effects:

Making data open and usable: We collect and publish polling station data as open data, meaning it is free and without barriers for anyone to access. Researchers, journalists, developers, and others can use it to create new insights, applications, and innovations.
Increasing accessibility and inclusivity: We ensure that everyone has effective access to clear information about polling station facilities.
Simplifying and encouraging participation in the democratic process: By collecting and presenting information consistently, we make it easier to find and understand. This helps encourage voter turnout.

Want to work with the data yourself? Visit WhereIsMyPollingStation and explore the possibilities for research, journalism, or building useful apps and tools.

For any questions feel free to contact Open State

STATUS

Lobby

Lobby
Data available

Data available
Release and Tools

Release and tools
Durable releasing

Durable releasing
Reuse

Reuse

Lobby

In 2018, 50% of municipalities provided their data themselves. By 2024, this had risen to 92%. The project now enjoys broad support, and we aim to reach 100%.

Data beschikbaar

The name and location of all polling stations are available. If municipalities do not supply the data themselves, we supplement it. In such cases, certain details, such as polling station number, are often missing. Not all accessibility-related fields are mandatory either.

Ontsluiten en hulpmiddelen

The data is available through Dataplatform. They ensure that the data is also available through data.overheid.nl.

Duurzame ontsluiting

Our goal is to make it possible for municipalities to provide information through an automated link. To achieve this, we work with the software providers of polling station management systems used by many municipalities. We are working to expand this capability; in 2024, 23% of municipalities were already able to use it

Hergebruik

The data is available in various file formats and through an API. LocalFocus, among others, uses it during each election to create its own polling station maps for news websites, reusing the data hundreds of thousands of times.