People are voting electronically in the local elections across the Brussels-Capital Region today. While the voting happens through a touch screen computer, you will still get a printed ballot paper to put in the ballot box afterwards.
Is this your first time voting (electronically) in Brussels? Find our step-by-step guide below to understand how the entire process works, from the moment you enter the polling station.
Step 1: Give your identity card and 'convocation' letter to a member of the polling station. If you are a non-Belgian resident, give your e-card (residency card).
A woman holds her identity card and 'convocation' letter as she waits outside a polling station in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre on 9 June 2024. Credit: Belga / Hatim Kaghat
Step 2: After handing over your card, you will receive a white chip card to insert into the voting computer. With this card, you can vote once (and only at your polling station).
Credit: Belga
Step 3: Go into the voting booth. This is a small space where you vote, often closed off from the rest of the room with a curtain.
Man voting at a polling station in Vilvoorde, Sunday 09 June 2024. Credit: Belga / Tom Goyvaerts
Step 4: Insert the chip card in the direction of the arrow into the voting computer, up to the line in the middle of the card.
Credit: Belga
Step 5: Choose your language. Touch the screen with your finger to choose either French or Dutch. Confirm your choice. Once you have confirmed your language choice, you can no longer change it.
In the municipal elections, you can always view all lists no matter which language you choose; it does not matter whether the name or acronym of the list in question is in French or Dutch. The list number and name/acronym appear on the screen for all candidate lists.
Credit: Belga
Step 6: Touch the screen with your finger to vote. This can be done in different ways: you vote for an entire list, you vote for one or more candidates from the same list, you combine both types of votes, or you do not vote at all.
- To cast a "list vote", check the box above the list. You can do this if you agree with the order in which the candidates are on a list and/or if you want to support the list as a whole.
Once you have selected a list, the screen shows the list number and name/acronym, as well as the first and last names of the candidates.
- To cast a "preferential vote", check the box next to the name of the candidate of your choice.
If you vote for one or more candidates from a list, you influence the allocation of the seats that were won by that list. You can find more information about how this system works here.
Credit: Belga
- To cast a combination vote, check the box at the top of the list as well as the box(es) next to the name(s) of a candidate(s) from the same list that you want to vote for. However, if you are voting for both a list and one (or more) candidate(s), only the votes for the candidates count.
You cannot vote for candidates from different lists. If you do this, your vote will be invalid.
- To cast a blank vote, check the box "blank vote". This way, you do not vote for any of the lists.
At the end of each step, you must select "confirm". Until you confirm your vote, you can still return to the screen where you can choose between the lists and the blank vote.
Step 7: When you have confirmed your vote, the voting computer prints a ballot paper. Your vote is printed as text and as a barcode. Fold the paper in half with the text facing inward to conceal your vote.
Step 8: Leave the voting booth with the chip card and make your way to the ballot box.
Step 9: Use the ballot box to scan the barcode on your ballot paper. Once you have received a signal that the barcode has been scanned correctly, insert it into the ballot box.
Flemish Minister of Environment, Energy, Tourism and Justice Zuhal Demir casts vote at a polling station in Genk, 9 June 2024. Credit: Belga / Marc Dirix
Step 10: Hand in the chip card to the clerk at the polling station. They will stamp your 'convocation' letter, indicating that you have voted. They will also return your identity/residency card. Once you are done, leave the polling station immediately.
