Elections in Belgium

Elections in Belgium gives information on election and election results in Belgium.

Belgium elects its bicameral federal legislature, the Federal Parliament (Federale Parlement/Parlement Fédérale/Föderales Parlament. The Chamber of People's Representatives (Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers/Chambre des Représentants/Abgeordnetenkammer) has 150 members, each elected for a four year term by proportional representation. The Senate (Senaat/Sénat/Senat) has 71 members, of which 40 are directly elected for a four year term by proportional representation, 21 are appointed by the Community parliaments, and 10 are co-opted (i.e., appointed by the other senators). In addition, the children of the King are senators by right.

Belgium has a multi-party system, with numerous parties in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments.

Several months before an election, each party forms a list of candidates for each district. Parties are allowed to place as many candidates on their "ticket" as there are seats available. The formation of the list is an internal process that varies with each party. The place on the list influences the election of a candidate, but its influence has diminished since the last electoral reform.

Political campaigns in Belgium are relatively short, lasting only about one month, and there are restrictions on the use of billboards. For all of their activities, campaigns included, the political parties have to rely on government subsidies and dues paid by their members.

Since no single party holds an absolute majority, after the election the strongest party or party family will usually create a coalition with some of the other parties to form the government.

Voting is compulsory in Belgium; more than 90% of the population participates. Belgian voters are given five options when voting. They may—

• Vote for a list as a whole, thereby showing approval of the order established by the party they vote for
• Vote for one or more individual candidates belonging to one party, regardless of his or her ranking on the list. This is a "preference vote"
• Vote for one or more of the "alternates (substitutes)"
• Vote for one or more candidates, and one or more alternates, all of the same party
• Vote invalid or blank so no one receives the vote

Elections for the Federal Parliament are normally held every four years, although early elections are possible. The regional parliaments are elected for fixed terms of five years, and their elections coincide with those for the European Parliament. Elections for the members of Belgium's municipal and provincial councils are held every six years, also for fixed terms.

Voting in Belgium is done almost entirely by electronic voting on a computer. A few weeks before the actual election, every Belgian older than 18 receives a voting card with the details of where to vote. Voting bureaus are usually in schools. On polling day, a volunteer at the voting bureau checks the voter in. After taking the voter's electronic identity card and voting card, the volunteer issues a magnetic card to operate the voting machine. After the voter has finished, the volunteer verifies that the magnetic card was used to cast a valid vote, then returns the voter's ID and voting card, now stamped as proof of having voted.

The most recent general election was held on 13 June 2010. The voter turnout was 89.22% for both parliamentary and senate elections and detailed scores are displayed in the tables below. The next elections are the communal and provincial elections in October 2012.