In recent years, I have regularly staffed a polling station in Rotterdam. You can volunteer for this, and you’ll receive over €100 for approximately 9 hours of work plus mandatory e-learning. This year, I served as deputy chair and was responsible for checking voting passes and IDs.

One day, a woman asked me, “Do you think my mother looks too old?” when I looked at an elderly woman in surprise. The woman was born in 1930! She looked lively and spry and was 95 years old. She was born and raised in Rotterdam, had lived in Ridderkerk for a few years, but had been back in Rotterdam for many years.

My polling station is in Ommoord, a neighborhood built in the 1960s and 70s, with many older residents. Most of the voters I encountered were younger than I am, with only a small percentage over 85, the oldest being 98.

On some IDs, the place of birth is listed, but the majority of people are born and raised in Rotterdam. There are people from Turkey, Morocco, Kurdistan, a few Frisians, and one from Groningen.

Almost everyone becomes a bit shy when I look them directly in the eyes to verify if the person in front of me matches the ID. Women wearing headscarves also ask, with an unmistakable Rotterdam dialect, whether the face and the ID photo match. I had to look carefully at a man who had lost about 60 kg since his passport photo.