THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Socially distanced voters are casting their ballots in churches, conference centers and even the national parliament on the first day of a Dutch general election. The election has been spread over three days to allow people to vote safely during the coronavirus pandemic. The COVID-19 crisis has been a dominant theme of the campaign. Opposition parties have been criticizing the government’s handling of the health care emergency and candidates explaining how they will rebuild the economy when the virus recedes. Voting Monday started exactly a year after the first Dutch coronavirus lockdown began and the country is in another tough lockdown amid stubbornly high infection numbers. More than 16,000 people are confirmed to have died of COVID-19 in the Netherlands.
