The method of election, the elected bodies, and the political party system have changed drastically since the founding of Belgium in 1830. At first, there were only municipal, provincial and national elections with only few people being able to vote on the national level. Over time, voting rights were extended and eventually made compulsory. In the second half the 20th century, political parties split along linguistic lines and the number of parties increased. In 1979, the European Parliament became a directly elected supranational body and as a result of the federalisation of the country, the Communities and Regions of Belgium also got their own legislatures which have been directly elected since 1993.
Organisation of elections
The Federal Government is responsible for organising all non-local elections, being the elections for the community and regional parliaments, the federal parliament and the European Parliament in Belgium. The Elections Directorate of the Federal Public Service Interior is tasked with this.
Since 2001, the Regional Governments (Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia) are responsible for organising all local elections, being the elections for the municipal councils, provincial councils, district councils and OCMW/CPAS councils. In Flanders, the Local Government Agency (Agentschap Binnenlands Bestuur) is tasked with this, while objections go to the Council for Election Disputes (Raad voor Verkiezingsbetwistingen).
Election method
Ballot for communal election in 2012 in Walcourt.
Belgium has a multi-party system, with numerous political parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments.
Several months before an election, each party forms a list of candidates for each district. Parties are allowed to place as many candidates on their "ticket" as there are seats available. The formation of the list is an internal process that varies with each party. The place on the list influences the election of a candidate, but its influence has diminished since the last electoral reform.[citation needed]
Political campaigns in Belgium are relatively short, lasting only about one month, and there are restrictions on the use of billboards. For all of their activities, campaigns included, the political parties have to rely on government subsidies and dues paid by their members.
Since no single party holds an absolute majority, after the election the strongest party or party family will usually create a coalition with some of the other parties to form the government.
Voting is compulsory in Belgium, with more than 90% of the population participating. In 2021, voting for the local elections (municipal and province) was made voluntary from the 2024 elections.
Belgian voters are given five options when voting. They may—
Vote for a list as a whole, thereby showing approval of the order established by the party they vote for
Vote for one or more individual candidates belonging to one party, regardless of his or her ranking on the list. This is a "preference vote"
Vote for one or more of the "alternates (substitutes)"
Vote for one or more candidates, and one or more alternates, all of the same party
Vote invalid or blank so no one receives the vote
Voting in Belgium is done by paper voting or electronic voting on a computer depending on the place of voting. A few weeks before the actual election, every Belgian older than 18 receives a voting card with the details of where and when to vote. The voting cards are sent by the municipal administration to all of the municipality's inhabitants based on the national population register. Voting bureaus are usually in schools. On polling day, always a Sunday, a volunteer at the voting bureau checks the voter in. After taking the voter's electronic identity card and voting card, the volunteer issues a magnetic card to operate the voting machine. After the voter has finished, the volunteer verifies that the magnetic card was used to cast a valid vote, then returns the voter's ID and voting card, now stamped as proof of having voted.
Voters
Voters are Belgian citizens over the age of 18 and residing in Belgium. They are automatically registered on the electoral rolls on reaching the age of 18 and are subject to compulsory voting.
EU citizens aged 18 or older may register to vote in Belgium for European and municipal elections, a right established by European treaties. Non-EU citizens may register to vote in Belgium for municipal elections only, if living in Belgium for at least five years; this right was introduced in 2004 after extensive political debate. Belgian citizens living abroad may register to vote in a diplomatic or consular post in their country of residence, to vote for European and federal elections. For all of these groups, registration is not compulsory, but once registered, the person is theoretically subject to compulsory voting.
The law of 17 November 2016 extended the right to vote for European Parliament elections to Belgians living in a non-EU member state. On 26 August 2016, the cabinet also approved to extend the right to vote for Belgians living abroad in regional elections; however, this change is subject to approval by special majority in parliament, causing the measure to stall. Proposals to grant the right to vote from 16 years old for municipal elections were voted down, respectively in Flanders in 2017 and in Wallonia in 2018.
In 2021, voting for the municipal and provincial elections was made voluntary, starting from the 2024 elections.
May register to vote if living in Belgium for at least five years (by law of 19 March 2004)
Not allowed
Levels of election
European elections
Belgian voters elect 21 members to the European Parliament. This number gradually decreased following the accession of new member states to the European Union, the latest being Croatia in 2013. Direct elections have taken place since 1979.[1]
There are three constituencies, organised by linguistic community:
Since the abolishment of direct elections to the Senate in 2014, these elections are the only ones with community-wide lists, as elections to the Chamber of Representatives use provincial lists.
Belgium elects its bicameral federal legislature, the Federal Parliament (Federaal Parlement/Parlement fédéral/Föderales Parlament).
The Chamber of Representatives (Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers/Chambre des Représentants/Abgeordnetenkammer) consists of 150 members, each elected for a five-year term by proportional representation. Prior to the 1993 state reform, it had 212 members.
The Senate (Senaat/Sénat/Senat) has 60 members, of which 50 are appointed by the community and regional parliaments, and 10 are co-opted (i.e., appointed by the other senators). Before 2014 (due to the sixth Belgian state reform) the Senate had 71 members, of which 40 were directly elected.
Elections for the Federal Parliament are normally held every five years, coinciding with the European (and consequently also regional) elections. Early elections are possible, after which the legislature lasts until the next European election. Before the sixth Belgian state reform, the term was four years without any link to the other elections.
Since the 1993 state reform, the Parliaments of the federated entities (Communities and Regions) are directly elected with elections always coinciding with European Parliament elections (thus with fixed terms of five years). Previously, these Parliaments consisted of the federal representatives elected in the respective region.
The Flemish and Walloon Region both have five provinces each. These ten have directly elected provincial councils. Both regions decreased the number of provincial councillors starting with the 2012 elections.
Municipal elections
All three regions have municipalities with municipal councils. Unlike all other levels, the seats in the municipal councils are apportioned using the Imperiali method, which slightly favours larger parties to ensure more stable coalitions.
District elections
The largest cities in Belgium have the possibility of installing urban districts. Only the city of Antwerp made use of this, which consequently has nine districts with their own directly elected district councils in addition to the municipal council of Antwerp.
Vote counting and seat attribution
The objective of elections in Belgium is to elect the members or a legislative council, from the Chamber of Representatives of the Federal Parliament to the local municipal council. The Belgian system does not elect members of the executive or the judicial branch. Vote counting is a very serious matter, to prevent voter fraud (that was committed in the early days of Belgian democracy). The objective of vote counting in Belgium's proportional system is to attribute a number of seats to candidates of different parties. 2 attribution calculation systems are in place, unlike all other levels, the seats in the municipal councils are attributed using the Imperiali method, while in all supra-local elections where the jurisdiction of the legislative council covers more than one electoral district (like the provincial, regional, federal or European elections) the D'Hondt method is used. These systems are however made more complex by the use of different types of votes such as list or party vote, a single nominal vote or a compounded nominal vote, and a vote transfers between candidates of party using Imperiali quota or STV.
Referendums
Binding referendums in Belgium are not legally possible because of the constitutional principle that the country's powers are exercised by the nation and not by the people. Consequently, Belgium is a representative democracy, almost without any form of direct democracy.
The Constitution did neither allow for non-binding referendums, but in 1950 a referendum was organised anyway with the question whether King Leopold III should return to the throne. There were large regional differences in the results, and no national referendum has been held ever since.
In the 1990s though, new laws and eventually a constitutional amendment allowed for non-binding referendums on the municipal and provincial level. A 2005 constitutional change made the Regions responsible for these local referendums. They are however still rarely organised. The sixth Belgian state reform of 2011 foresees a constitutional change to allow for regional referendums as well; this has however not yet been done as of 2013.
The primary six Flemish political parties and their results for the House of Representatives (Kamer). From 1978 to 2014, in percentages for the complete 'Kingdom'.
The politics of Belgium take place in the framework of a federal, representative democratic, constitutional monarchy. The King of the Belgians is the head of state, and the prime minister of Belgium is the head of government, in a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Federal legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament, the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives. The federation is made up of (language-based) communities and (territorial) regions. Philippe is the seventh and current King of the Belgians, having ascended the throne on 21 July 2013.
Belgium is a federal state comprising three communities and three regions that are based on four language areas. For each of these subdivision types, the subdivisions together make up the entire country; in other words, the types overlap.
The Kingdom of Belgium is divided into three regions. Two of these regions, Flanders and Wallonia, are each subdivided into five provinces. The third region, Brussels, does not belong to any province and nor is it subdivided into provinces. Instead, it has amalgamated both regional and provincial functions into a single "Capital Region" administration.
The Flemish Parliament constitutes the legislative power in Flanders for matters which fall within the competence of Flanders, both as a geographic region and as a cultural community of Belgium.
The Workers' Party of Belgium is a Marxist and socialist political party in Belgium. It is the only Belgian party represented in parliament that is a fully national party, representing both Flanders and Wallonia. Having historically been a small party, the PTB-PVDA has gained momentum since the 2010s, continuously scoring better at the elections, particularly in Wallonia and working-class communities in Brussels.
Flanders is both a cultural community and an economic region within the Belgian state, and has significant autonomy.
The Flemish Community is one of the three institutional communities of Belgium, established by the Belgian constitution and having legal responsibilities only within the precise geographical boundaries of the Dutch-language area and of the bilingual area of Brussels-Capital. Unlike in the French Community of Belgium, the competences of the Flemish Community have been unified with those of the Flemish Region and are exercised by one directly elected Flemish Parliament based in Brussels.
The Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Chamber of Representatives. It is considered to be the "upper house" of the Federal Parliament. Created in 1831 as a chamber fully equal to the Chamber of Representatives, it has undergone several reforms in the past, most notably in 1993 and 2014. The 2014 elections were the first without a direct election of senators. Instead, the new Senate is composed of members of community and regional parliaments and co-opted members. It is a chamber of the communities and regions and serves as a platform for discussion and reflection about matters between these federated entities. The Senate today plays a minor role in the federal legislative process. However, the Senate, together with the Chamber, has full competence for the Constitution and legislation on the organization and functioning of the Federal State and the federated entities. Since the reform of 2014, it holds about ten plenary sessions a year.
The Belgian provincial, municipal and district elections of 2006 took place on Sunday 8 October 2006. The electors have elected the municipal councillors of 589 cities and towns as well as the ten provincial councils. The voters in the town of Antwerp have also been able to vote for the city's district councils. In seven Flemish municipalities with a special language statute and in the Walloon municipality of Comines-Warneton the aldermen and the members of the OCMW/CPAS council have also been directly elected.
Geert Albert Bourgeois is a Belgian politician of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), which he founded in 2001, who is currently serving as a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. He previously served as the Minister-President of Flanders from 2014 to 2019. Prior to this, he was a member of the federal Chamber of Representatives for the People's Union from 1995 to 2001, and then for the N-VA from 2001 to 2004. He has been involved in local and regional politics in Flanders since 1976.
State reform, in the context of Belgium, is the ongoing process of seeking and finding constitutional and legal solutions to the problems and tensions in the different segments of the Belgian population, mostly between the Dutch-speakers of Flanders and the French-speakers of Wallonia. In general, Belgium has evolved from a unitary state to a federal state with communities, regions, and language areas.
The Belgian provincial, municipal and district elections of 2012 took place on 14 October. As with the previous 2006 elections, these are no longer organised by the Belgian federal state but instead by the respective regions:
Federal elections were held in Belgium on 25 May 2014. All 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives were elected, whereas the Senate was no longer directly elected following the 2011–2012 state reform. These were the first elections held under King Philippe's reign.
Regional elections were held in Belgium on 25 May 2014 to choose representatives for the Flemish Parliament, Walloon Parliament, Brussels Parliament and the Parliament of the German-speaking Community. These elections were held on the same day as the 2014 European elections as well as the 2014 Belgian federal election.
Federal elections were held in Belgium on 26 May 2019, alongside the country's European and regional elections. All 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives were elected from eleven multi-member constituencies.
The Belgian provincial, municipal and district elections of 2018 took place on Sunday 14 October 2018. They are organised by the respective regions:
The 2019 Belgian regional elections took place on Sunday 26 May, the same day as the 2019 European Parliament election as well as the Belgian federal election.
The Belgian provincial, municipal and district elections of 2024 will take place on Sunday 13 October 2024. They take place four months after the simultaneous European, federal and regional elections.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Belgiumportal 
