Despite voting still being obligatory in Brussels, many people abstained from their democratic duty on Sunday 13 October. In two Brussels municipalities, less than half of all eligible voters showed up to cast their votes.
For the first time during the local elections, voting was not mandatory in Flanders, and as expected, voter turnout (the number of people who went to a polling station) took a hit. Barely 63% of people went to vote – a historic low. However, in Brussels too, participation was at an all-time low.
An analysis by political scientist Emilie van Haute (ULB) and VRT NWS showed that even though all registered voters risk a fine if they do not head to the polls, one in five voters in Brussels did not show up on Sunday. This turnout of 80.6% is the lowest since the turn of the century.
The municipalities of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean (76.3%), City of Brussels (76.9%) and Anderlecht (77.3%) fared the worst.
Low international representation
In Brussels, a large number of eligible voters this time were non-Belgians: around 241,000 EU nationals and almost 70,000 non-EU nationals who had lived in the country for more than five years could also make their voice heard in the local elections, accounting for a third of all those entitled to vote in Brussels.
Unlike people with Belgian nationality, who are automatically registered and obliged to vote, foreign nationals must register. However, only one in six non-Belgians in Brussels did so.
"Registration to vote was only possible until the end of July," van Haute said. "In addition, many non-Belgians have not lived in Brussels for long, which is not ideal for their social and political integration. Some municipalities also do not sufficiently inform non-Belgians."
As a result, even before the elections, the electorate (the number of eligible voters who are registered to vote) consisted of only 71.4% of all those entitled to vote.
On the day of the vote, this figure further dropped. In addition to the many non-Belgian residents who did not register to vote, the turnout was as low as 56.8% for the entire Brussels region. In other words, fewer than six in ten residents who were able to vote actually went to the polling booth.
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In Saint-Gilles and Ixelles – communes with a relatively large non-Belgian population, many of whom only live in Brussels for a few months or years – less than half of the residents who were allowed to vote there (49.7% and 48.8%, respectively) actually cast their vote.
In both communes, this means the new majority will represent a considerably limited part of the electorate.
However, van Haute noted that this problem is also present among Belgian voters. "There is generally very high mobility in Brussels. A study shows that more than two in three residents have only moved to their municipality in the past five years."
