There are logically three types of vote for the different ballots to which you are summoned on June 9, 2024 in Belgium : valid vote, blank vote and invalid vote. A vote will be void when it cannot be accepted for various reasons (you wrote or drew something on the ballot paper, you selected several lists or candidates from different parties, etc.). A vote will be blank when you slip it as is, without having written anything, into the ballot box.
Are you risking anything by voting blank or invalid, or by abstaining?
Whether you opt for a blank vote, an invalid vote or a classic vote, you risk nothing : you have correctly fulfilled your civic duty. On the other hand, if you abstain, that is to say you do not show up at the polling station in your municipality, you are in default and you risk a fine.
2024 elections in Belgium: Don’t know who to vote for? Do you want to know which political party supports your ideas? Take our electoral test!
How is the blank vote counted? Do blank votes go to the majority?
Under Belgian legislation, blank votes (by which one does not vote for any list or any candidate) and invalid votes (for (candidates from) different lists) are counted but are not taken into account when of the distribution of seats between the parties. They are therefore completely ignored and no party can use them. When distributing seats, only those ballot papers on which a valid vote was cast for the different lists are taken into account.
Note that in other countries, blank votes are taken into account. In Greece, for example, these ballots are awarded to the winner of the election. In the Netherlands and Spain, blank votes are taken into account to define the electoral thresholds but they are set aside to define the distribution of seats in Parliament.
We must keep in mind that even if they are not taken into account, blank votes can influence the balance of power between the parties. We see that in the Belgian system, blank votes tend to strengthen the first party.
How can I vote blank in the 2024 elections in Belgium?
If the vote is paper, as explained above, it is sufficient not to choose any candidate or party and to cast your vote in this way. If voting is done electronically, as is the case in Brussels and Flanders, you must check the “blank vote” box. It will have the same effect!
At work, on vacation or unable to vote: how to obtain a voting proxy for the elections of June 9, 2024 in Belgium?
Blank ballot and Blanco party, is there a link?
In order to circumvent this observation, we witnessed the birth of the Blanco Party at the beginning of 2024. Their program consists of one and the same proposition: being able to vote at the federal level for an unallocated seat. “Blanco elected officials will sit in Parliament but will not be part of a majority or an opposition”, explained Laurent Ryckaert, candidate and founder of Blanco, to RTBF. As the party explains, for them, this is an “anti-electoral waste” proposal. According to their calculation, 30 seats out of 150 in the House could be allocated by accumulating blank or null votes, from those who simply do not vote, or from those who choose a party having no chance of exceeding the minimum electoral threshold.
What is a void vote? How to vote invalid?
A ballot will be considered invalid when it is accompanied by an answer that is not valid. Do you draw a picture of a big teddy bear on your ballot or put the name of a bird on it? The vote is void. With electronic voting, it is impossible to leave the boxes, so no invalid vote. Like blank ballots, invalid votes are ignored.
Is it possible to vote electronically in the 2024 federal, regional and European elections?
What is abstention?
In Belgium, during the last elections in 2019, 12% of voters did not go to the polling stations. They therefore abstained from voting with all the risks that this entails… They did not even provide a proxy so that we could vote in their place. It could also be a message from dissatisfied citizens.
What are the risks if I don’t vote?
If this is the first time that the citizen does not vote, the abstainer will risk a reprimand or a fine of 40 to 80 euros. But, in the event of a repeat offense, the fine for non-voting can rise up to 200 euros. If the citizen accumulates 4 unjustified absences (without a valid reason for absence/excuse) in less than 15 years, he or she will be removed from the list of voters for ten years.
Is it really obligatory to vote? What are we really risking by not voting on June 9?
