Voters in Amsterdam took to their bikes and cars on Monday to cast their ballots in the Dutch national election with a ban on gatherings of more than two people.

Voting has been spread over three days to help ensure social distancing at polling stations.

An exception on the 9 p.m. national curfew, the first since World War II, will also be made for people casting their votes.

The election is widely seen as a referendum on the Dutch government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The country was the last in the European Union to start vaccinating and it flip flopped over face masks.

But hospitals didn't run out of beds through to Covid 19 infection peaks.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte to is widely expected to gain enough support to secure 1/4 term, with Gert Wilders of the anti Islam Freedom Party expected to come Second.

Coronavirus infections in the Netherlands are now rising at the fastest pace in months and the National Institute for Health has advised against any swift easing out of lockdown.

On Sunday, police broke up a demonstration by thousands of people in The Hague to protest against the lockdown and curfew.