IIt seems that the participation rate in local elections is falling sharply throughout Flanders, since voting is no longer compulsory at the local level. In the previous elections, the rate was 92%.
An official overview of the turnout in Flanders has not yet been officially published, but the Belga news agency and various electoral offices in Flanders report that the turnout is significantly lower than in previous elections. Some mayors confirm – unofficially – this preliminary trend.
Those who went there will have seen it with their own eyes: the polling stations in Flanders were particularly calm this Sunday. Few voters were seen lining up at the entrance to the polling stations. In some offices, participation rates of barely a third are even mentioned…
“Whatever happens, participation will be lower than the 92% recorded during the last local election,” worried Hilde Crevits, the Minister of Internal Affairs (CD&V). “It is still too early to have a definitive opinion on this subject. To do this, we will have to wait for the counting of all the ballots in all the electoral districts. We have already agreed within the Flemish government to carry out a thorough evaluation of the abolition of the voting obligation,” she said.
“I’m surprised,” reacts UGent political scientist Herwig Reynaert. “Because these are local elections. I had thought the participation numbers would be higher. This is the level of power closest to the people. They can decide for their own municipality. And they often know a lot of the people on the lists. »
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All the results of the 2024 municipal elections (interactive map)
“It’s much more exciting”
Freya Van den Bossche (Vooruit), fourth on the social-liberal list in Ghent, does not consider the removal of compulsory voting to be problematic. The MP even finds it “exciting”: “It’s much more exciting than usual, particularly because compulsory attendance has been abolished. »
Freya Van den Bossche, however, hopes that the participation rate will be higher: “I heard that it is quiet everywhere. I hope people get some sleep and come vote later. I would find it a real shame if people didn’t show up, whether they voted for my party or not. This is the very first time that they are no longer obliged to vote and it remains to be seen what effect this will have. »
On
In Genk, the polling stations were particularly empty this Sunday, October 13, according to the Flemish daily The Latest News. At 12 p.m., the participation rate was 36% while the current mayor, Wim Dries (CD&V), expected a participation rate of 70 to 75%.
The first results known in a municipality
In the Antwerp municipality of Heist-op-den-Berg, the cartel bringing together the N-VA, Open VLD and Groen obtained 27.3% of the votes, according to the first results communicated by The Latest News.
Flanders is not the only region in Europe where the voting requirement has been abolished. Other entities preceded Flanders on this path. But these foreign experiences show that the removal of the voting obligation has rarely had such a rapid impact on the participation rate.
In the Netherlands, where voting has long been optional, turnout in the latest local elections barely reached 50%. In the large Batavian cities, this rate is sometimes only 35 or 40%.
Follow our live coverage of the municipal elections.
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