At stake in this election:

• 150 seats in the Second Chamber (Tweede Kamer)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: Queen BEATRIX
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Jan Peter BALKENENDE
• Assembly: Netherlands has a bicameral States General (Staten Generaal) consisting of the First Chamber (Eerste Kamer) with 75 seats and the Second Chamber (Tweede Kamer) with 150 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The Queen is hereditary N/A.
• In the First Chamber (Eerste Kamer) 75 members are indirectly elected through a flexible-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms*. In the Second Chamber (Tweede Kamer) 150 members are elected through a flexible-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.**

* Voting is by members of the country's 12 Provincial Councils. The value of each vote is weighted according to the population of the respective province. This is in order to account for any malapportionment of seats to Provincial Councils. There is one national district and no formal threshold. Voters must cast preference votes. List order does not change unless a candidate has achieved 50 percent of one quota, which is defined as a list's vote share divided by its seat share.

** There is one national district and no formal threshold. Voters must cast preference votes. List order does not change unless a candidate has achieved 25 percent of one quota, which is defined as a list's vote share divided by its seat share.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) / Christen Democratisch Appèl
  • Leader: Jan Peter BALKENENDE
  • Seats won in last Second Chamber election: 41
• Party: Labour Party (PvdA) / Partij van de Arbeid
  • Leader: Job COHEN
  • Seats won in last Second Chamber election: 33
• Party: Socialist Party (SP) / Socialistische Partij
  • Leader: Jan MARIJNISSEN
  • Seats won in last Second Chamber election: 25
• Party: People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) / Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie
  • Leader: Mark RUTTE
  • Seats won in last Second Chamber election: 22
• Party: Party for Freedom (PvdV) / Partij voor de Vrijheid
  • Leader: Geert WILDERS
  • Seats won in last Second Chamber election: 9
• Party: GreenLeft (GL) / GroenLinks
  • Leader: Femke HALSEMA
  • Seats won in last Second Chamber election: 7
• Party: ChristianUnion (CU) / ChristenUnie
  • Leader: Andre ROUVOET
  • Seats won in last Second Chamber election: 6
• Party: Democrats 66 (D66) / Politieke Partij Democraten 66
  • Leader: Alexander PECHTOLD
  • Seats won in last Second Chamber election: 3
• Party: Party for the Animals (PvdD) / Partij voor de Dieren
  • Leader: Marianne THIEME
  • Seats won in last Second Chamber election: 2
• Party: Reformed Political Party (SGP) / Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij
  • Leader: Bas van der VLIES
  • Seats won in last Second Chamber election: 2
• Party: Other Parties
  • Leader: N/A
  • Seats won in last Second Chamber election: 0

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 16,615,394 (2010)
• Registered Voters: 12,524,152 (June 2010)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 8,388,058 (2010)

·         Is Netherlands a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Netherlands ratified CEDAW: Yes (23 July 1991)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 61 (Second Chamber) following the 2010 elections; 26 (First Chamber) following the 2007 elections

·         Human Development Index Position: 5 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A

Disability Data:

·         Is Netherlands a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Netherlands ratified CRPD: Yes (14 June 2016)

·         Population with a disability: 2,492,309 (est.)