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Elections in Belgium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Other countries · Politics Portal |
Elections in Belgium gives information on election and election results in Belgium.
Belgium elects on federal level a legislature. The Federal Parliament (Federale Parlement/Parlement Fédérale/Föderales Parlament) has two chambers. The Chamber of People's Representatives (Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers/Chambre des Représentants/Abgeordnetenkammer) has 150 members, elected for a four year term by proportional representation. The Senate (Senaat/Sénat/Senat) has 71 members, 40 members directly-elected for a four year term by proportional representation, 21 members appointed by the Community Parliaments and 10 coopted members 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. An electoral expenditures law restricts expenditures of political parties during an electoral campaign. Because of the huge public bureaucracy, the high politisation of nominations, and the widely accepted practive that political nominees spend many man-months paid for by all tax-payers for partisan electioneering, this arrangement massively favors the ruling political parties.
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/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; or
- 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 every five years, and their elections coincide with those for the European Parliament, no early elections are possible. Elections for the members of Belgium's municipal and provincial councils are held every six years, no early elections are possible.
The next municipal and provincial elections in 2006 and the next general election will be in 2007, the next regional elections are expected in 2009.
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Belgian general elections
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Belgian regional elections
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