Incidents in Sunday's electoral process could lead to a partial rerun of local elections, warns Herman Matthijs, president of the Flemish Electoral Dispute Council. Though this is far from being a certainty, the UGent and VUB professor cautioned that it is a possibility to consider.
Flemish media has reported instances of 16 and 17 year-olds mistakenly being given lists to vote in the federal and regional elections in Flanders. These younger voters only have the right to vote in the European elections, the first time Belgium has allowed this age group to participate. But regional and federal ballots are reserved for those aged 18 and over.
In addition, there have been reports that some EU residents in Belgium have been able to vote on Flemish and federal lists, despite only being authorised to vote in European elections. The extent of these incidents has yet to be determined but should become clear after polls are closed. At this point municipalities should be able to establish a tally of surplus votes, Matthijs explained.
These irregularities could pose problems in marginal seats, warns Matthijs. He described a scenario where a province’s constituency hinges on 100 seats and 200 surplus ballots have been cast. In this instance, the erroneous votes would present a major issue and could lead parties to file a complaint.
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“It would then fall on the Flemish and federal parliaments to decide what actions must be taken.” They will judge if the complaints are valid. And if they are, it is not yet clear if this would trigger re-elections. But Matthijs urged caution on the matter, saying that re-elections have not happened since World War II.
If a complaint is made, the parliamentary presidents must call a meeting to reach a decision. “New oath-taking ceremonies will take place in July. A quick decision has to be made at that point,” he said.
