A little less than 270,000 minor voters will meet in the polling booth on May 9, for the vote in the European elections: a first in the Belgian kingdom.
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The European elections will take place at the beginning of June in all Emember states of the Union. This year, something new in Belgium: it will be possible to vote from the age of 16, for this election only. It is a first in the kingdom to see minor voters taking their place in the voting booth.
And no exception for these new voters: as is the case for most elections in Belgium, it will be obligatory, for them too, to vote. The Constitutional Court of Belgium decreed it ten days ago. But for these Belgian minors – there are around 270,000, or 2.9% of the electorate – unlike adults, there will be no sanction if they do not fulfill their duty as citizens.
“It’s our voice, as teenagers and 16-year-olds. It matters”
Maissane is 16 years old. She is in secondary 5, the equivalent of the first, and will soon receive a summons in her mailbox to go vote, like her elders. The young girl admits to being a little lost. “It’s still an important thing to take part in the… European elections, right? It’s obligatory, right? It’s at the beginning of June, right? We’re not too informed at school…”. Enough to make her sister Méline react, much more motivated than her at the idea of finding herself in a voting booth.
“It prepares us for later, to become interested in politics little by little”
Méline, Belgian minerat franceinfo
“I subscribe to Instagram accounts that tell me ‘this political party, that’s their project’, and now I’m finding out. I’m not going to vote for just anyone, I’m going to vote for something that interests me to develop… the European Union, is that it?”, continues Méline. Her sister, Maissane, bounces back: “Now that you say it, it’s important. It’s our voice, as teenagers and 16-year-olds. It matters!”
“We didn’t have enough experience to vote. I will go because we are obliged by law”
An enthusiasm not yet contagious enough to dispel the doubts of the new voter that Tom will soon be. “I think that we are not yet mature enough at 16, we have not had enough experience to vote. I will go because we are obliged by law.” So there is some confusion. It must be said that the voting methods for 16-17 year olds have changed several times.
It was initially optional, with a voluntary registration process to be completed to appear on the electoral lists. Registration then became automatic. Finally, the Belgian Constitutional Court made voting for minors compulsory, as for all Belgian citizens, with the difference that they will not be penalized in the event of absence in the voting booth.
“They are not at all prepared to vote on June 9”
A laborious implementation which harms the measure, believes the political scientist Bernard Fournier, teacher at the Haute école de la province de Liège: “This measure could be beneficial if it is accompanied by a measure of learning about politics.
“What is sad is that the schools will not have had time to talk much to young people about their new right to vote, they are not at all prepared to vote on June 9”
Bernard Fournier, political scientistat franceinfo
The political scientist still hopes that the Belgian experiment will be a success. He says he is convinced: “we are in any case moving towards a general lowering of the voting age for all elections.”