How to vote in Belgium

You should find a complete list of all candidates on the website of the Federal Public Service of Home Affairs on the elections (available in Dutch, French, and German) once the registration period expires.

Political parties or individual people who wish to stand for the elections should register with the national election authority 57 days prior to election day. Once this registration period has expired, you should find a complete list of all candidates on the website of the Federal Public Service of Home Affairs (available in Dutch, French, and German).

There is no threshold. In each constituency, the seats are distributed according to the d'Hondt system.

In Belgium there are three constituencies, based on the regional structures of the linguistic communities. The constituencies are the following:

• The Dutch-speaking constituency (13 seats as of the 2024 elections): Flanders region and the Brussels voters who opt to vote for candidates on the Dutch-speaking lists (the first choice to be made in the polling booth itself). Voters in the six municipalities around Brussels with a recognised French-speaking minority can opt to choose to vote for candidates of the French-speaking constituency.
• The French-speaking constituency (8 seats): Wallonia region (without the German community) and the Brussels voters who opt to vote for candidates on the French-speaking lists.
• The German-speaking constituency (1 seat).

Candidacies are only possible in one constituency.

Belgian citizens of 16 years old or over, as well as EU-citizens as of 16 years old who have registered to vote in Belgium, are obliged to participate in the elections.
This means that you will receive a summons letter and are required to enter the voting booth at your polling station. You are not obliged to vote for a party: you can always vote blank.

Note:
In 2022, the Belgian federal Parliament extended voting rights for the European elections to 16 and 17-year-olds. However, on 20 July 2023, the Constitutional Court annulled this law insofar as it makes the right to vote for 16 and 17-year-olds dependent on the requirement to submit an application to be registered on the electoral list.
The law of 25 December 2023 follows ups on this judgement: both young Belgians aged 16 and 17 can participate in the European Parliament election, as well as young European voters who have registered (but without the obligation to vote).
In a ruling of 21 March 2024, the Constitutional Court ruled that minors must also be subject to the obligation to vote on June 9, 2024.

You are eligible to vote in the European elections in Belgium if you are:

1. at least 16 years of age on election day
2. a Belgian or an EU citizen with a legal residence in Belgium, or a Belgian citizen residing abroad
3. registered as a voter by the deadline (31 March 2024 for European citizens residing in Belgium and 29 February 2024 for Belgian citizens residing abroad)
4. not banned from voting due to a judicial decision

Belgian or EU citizen voting in Belgium
If you reside in Belgium, you must cast your vote at a designated polling station located in the municipality where your official home address is registered. Each municipality has at least one polling station.

Belgian citizen voting from another EU country
You can find information on the page "Belgian domiciled in the European Union" of the website of the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs (available in French, German and Dutch).

Belgian citizen voting from a country outside the EU
You can find information on the page "Belgian domiciled outside the European Union" of the website of the Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs (available in Dutch, French, and German).

Belgian citizen voting in Belgium
You don't need to register. As voting is mandatory, national authorities automatically register you and send you a summons letter at the adress of your main residence.

EU-citizen voting in Belgium
You need to register on beforehand. You can register through the website of the Federal Public Service of Home Affairs on the elections (available in Dutch, French, and German), or by contacting the municipal authorities of the city or village where you live.

Belgian citizen voting from another EU country
You need to register on beforehand either by paper form or electronically via the e-Consul platform.
You can find all necessary information on the page "Belge domicilié dans l'Union européenne" of the website of the Federal Public Service of Foreign Affairs (available in Dutch, French, and German).

Belgian citizen voting from a country outside the EU
You need to register on beforehand either by paper form or electronically via the e-Consul platform.
You can find all necessary information on the page "Belge domicilié en dehors de l’Union européenne" of the website of the Federal Public Service of Foreign Affairs (available in Dutch, French, and German).

Belgian citizen voting in Belgium
You don’t need to register in advance. However, if you have changed your home address recently, we advise you to check with the municipal authorities to see whether your registration on the electoral rolls is correct.

EU-citizen voting in Belgium
If you want to cast your vote in the EU elections for a candidate in Belgium, you have to register in your municipality by 31 March 2024. Check the website of the Federal Public Service of Home Affairs for more details.

Belgian citizen voting from another EU country
You need to register by 29 February 2024 at the latest, considering your registration will be valid from the first day of the fourth month after the submission of your request.
You can find more detailed information on the website of the Federal Public Service of Foreign Affairs:

• section "Belge domicilié dans l'Union européenne" (available in French, German and Dutch)
  
• section "2024 elections: for Belgians abroad too!" (available in English)

Belgian citizen voting from a country outside the EU
You need to register by 29 February 2024 at the latest, considering your registration will be valid from the first day of the fourth month after the submission of your request.
You can find more detailed information on the website of the Federal Public Service of Foreign Affairs:

• section "Belge domicilié en dehors de l’Union européenne" (available in French, German and Dutch)
  
• section "2024 elections: for Belgians abroad too!" (available in English)

You have to be in possession of an ID document and the letter of the municipal administration calling you up to come to vote to that specific polling station.

If, due to a disability, you are unable to go to the polling booth or vote by yourself, you may, with the permission of the polling station's president, be accompanied or assisted by a person of your choice. If needed, a member of the polling station can be designated to assist you. The electoral law also provides for the possibility of arranging suitable transportation to pick you up from your residence and take you to the polling station.

You may find easy-to-read information about elections on the European elections easy-to-read page of this website.

No, you cannot vote by mail in Belgium, except if you live abroad.

No, online voting in the European elections is not possible in Belgium.

Yes, you can vote by proxy in Belgium.
You can find more information on the 'voting by proxy' page of the website of the Federal Public Service of Home Affairs (available in Dutch, French, and German).