2024 elections: what happens if I don’t vote?
Are you unable to go to your polling station for the June 9 elections? Here’s everything you need to know.
Published on 05/21/2024 at 6:33 p.m.
In 2024, voters will be called to the polls twice: on June 9 for the federal, regional and European elections and on October 13 for the municipal and provincial elections.
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Around 800,000 first-time voters will go to the polls this year with a little novelty: young people aged 16 and 17 will have to vote for the European elections. Is this the first time that you have received a summons letter but you will not be able to go to your polling station on June 9? We explain to you what you risk.
Voting requirement
In Belgium, electoral participation is compulsory. This does not mean that you are obliged to vote for a party (you can, for example, vote blank), but that you are obliged to go to the voting booth and place your ballot in the ballot box.
But what happens if you are unable to go to your polling station on June 9? In certain cases, if you are ill or for professional reasons for example, you can vote by proxy, that is to say that someone else will vote in your place (all the details of voting by proxy here ). You can also send the reasons for your absence to the justice of the peace in your canton who will decide whether your reasons are justified or not.
Sanctions
If you do not go to vote and the justice of the peace considers that your reasons were not valid, you risk a fine ranging from 40 to 200 euros depending on the repeat offense. These sanctions provided for by law are, however, not systematically applied.
Minors and European elections
With regard to the European elections, young people aged 16 and 17 who do not take part in the vote despite the obligation imposed on them to vote will not be sanctioned.
