For the elections on May 26, voters in Brussels will get to see both the Dutch-speaking and the French-speaking parties in the electoral college for the Brussels and European elections on their voting machine screen. In the past, voters had to pick an electoral college first, and then only saw the parties of that college. The change is important for Dutch-speaking parties that want to get more French-speaking voters. They often received the reaction from those voters that they wanted to vote for them, but couldn't find their parties on their screen. Especially French-speaking would-be N-VA and Vlaams Belang voters were disappointed, reports Bruzz.
The change to see all parties on the voting screen was implemented under then-minister of Internal Affairs, Jan Jambon (N-VA).
On May 26, for the European as well as the Flemish elections, the screen will show all parties ordered according to the French-speaking and Dutch-speaking electoral colleges. By clicking a party, the corresponding electoral college will automatically be selected. This is important for the Brussels elections because voters that pick the Dutch-speaking college will also have to vote for one of the six Brussels' seats in the Flemish Parliament.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
