En Flanders, the local vote on October 13 is the occasion for an important novelty: it is no longer obligatory for Flemish citizens to vote at this level of power, whether for the provinces or the municipalities.
At the end of September, all Flemish people, as well as foreign citizens registered as voters, received not a “convocation”, but rather a “letter of invitation” to vote. We elect the municipal councils, the provincial councils, but also, specifically in Antwerp, the district councils, and, in seven municipalities with facilities, the councils of the CPAS. These are six municipalities in the “Flemish Rand”, the Flemish outskirts of Brussels (Drogenbos, Kraainem, Linkebeek, Rhode-Saint-Genèse, Wemmel, Wezembeek-Oppem), and Fourons.
The abandonment of the voting obligation is the consequence of a decree promulgated in July 2021, which is producing its effects for the first time. But this is not the only novelty in the north of the country.
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This is the end, this year, of the “devolutionary effect of head-box voting”. It will always be possible to vote globally for a list, without indicating a preference for this or that candidate on this list, but these “head box” votes will no longer have any influence on the choice of candidates who will ultimately occupy a position. seat. In other words: the head of the list is no longer automatically advantaged in the figures by this position, and the real individual popularity of each candidate will weigh more heavily.
The appointment of the mayor will also comply with new rules. Here too, the goal is to better respect the voice of the voter. From now on, the position of mayor goes to the elected official who received the most nominal votes, on the “largest” list of the majority, in terms of votes. At the end of the elections, it is the champion of the list most popular with voters who has, for two weeks, the “right of initiative” to form a new majority, followed in the event of failure or renunciation. of the champion of the list who came second, and so on. This champion-trainer will therefore logically be, if he manages to create a coalition, the future mayor.
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