The general elections of September 12, 2012 in the Netherlands were characterized by many debates in the media: radio, television, magazines and newspapers. The elections resulted in 21,176 votes for an Unconditional Basic Income (UBI – OBI in Dutch) – on parties that didn’t get any seats in parliament.
Reporting in the election paid little attention to UBI as an issue. Stories and interviews focused on the party leaders of the major parties and some of the smaller parties in the parliament. A few new parties that seek more substantial innovations, such as direct democracy, digital civil rights and an unconditional basic income were sparsely covered. Of course, every political party did the free 6 x 3 minutes airtime on public broadcasting, but that was it. The polls taken in advance of the elections only concerned the established parties. The newcomers received no attention.
