Stem kwijt

If only this blog were still in Dutch! The above would have been a spiffingly witty one. I lost my voice! The whole school (as far as it is around; the building is under construction and lots of people whose windows have been ripped out of their offices are working at home) is revelling in my silence. I feel powerless. I can make some sound but it hurts. Internet is a relief; in this world, my voice is still there...

But I lost not only my voice; I lost also my recently won vote. Same word in Dutch. I received a voting card for the municipal elections. As I should! And then, to my surprise, I got also a voting card for the national elections. I thought a while about that. And then I decided that if I get that right, even though it is by mistake, I will wield it. But yesterday I got an apologetic letter saying that it was all a mishap, and that I was asked to destroy the card. I thought about that too. I decided in the end that as they had righted their wrong I would not try to use it. But then the story was not over.

Suddenly, Roland was on the regional radio. It turned out that all (non-UK) EU citizens in Plymouth had erroneously received a voting card for the national elections. A slight that had something to do with it being the very first time the local and national elections were held on the same day. So Roland had gotten one too. And had also gotten quite enthusiastic about voting here. And apparently had already bugged his MP about this years ago. Why only give a vote to citizens, and not to long-term residents too? Let them choose whether they feel more connected to politics in their home country or their country of residence. Within the EU, it might quite possibly even out. Who knows. The Brits are crazy enough to not have proportional representation. I hope they change that. And who can tell, maybe one day the voting rules for foreign residents will change as well...