This Sunday, you will be in the voting booth to make your voice heard. But how will this really happen? How will you have to ensure that your vote is taken into account?
In Belgium, there are two ways to vote and you will all notice it this Sunday. Either you vote electronically or on paper.
In certain, rather minority areas, you will have to vote electronically. This is the case in Brussels, in half of Flanders as well as the entire German-speaking community. In almost all of Wallonia we vote on paper.
In the voting booth, what will it look like? Regardless of the form of your vote, you will all have a ballot with several columns. Each represents a party.
Where should you check?
If we focus on a particular column, you have two choices:
Either you do a list vote, so you check the red dot at the top of the list. This means that you agree with the order of deputies proposed by the party and that you decide to give your vote to the party as a whole, without favoring a candidate.
Second possibility, you have preferred candidates, one or more. You then make a nominal vote. So, you check the box that is right next to the first name of your preferred candidate. You can check all the boxes on the same list.
What is the difference between an invalid vote and a blank vote?
An invalid vote is when you decide to do several different things on a ballot. Like when we decide to check several boxes in several different lists, when in reality, we cannot really vote for several different parties. If you decide to circle a name instead of checking the box, or if you decide to draw a picture on your ballot. There, the vote is considered invalid.
Another possibility, putting nothing, is when you make a blank vote. And so, what you need to know is that blank votes and invalid votes are counted together.
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