It’s clear that in some instances over 16s, who are only allowed to vote for the European parliament today voted for the federal and Flemish parliaments. There are also reports that some EU foreigners too have been able to vote for these Belgian parliaments, though they are really only supposed to vote for the European parliament. Herman Matthijs, chairman of the Council for Electoral Disputes told Belgian press agency Belga that voting incidents could possibly lead to partial new elections. It is not yet clear whether it will come to that, but in theory it could happen.
There are several reports of 16-and 17-year-olds who have also been able to vote for the federal and Flemish parliaments. For the first time in our country, these young people are allowed, even obliged, to vote for the European Parliament, but they are not yet allowed to vote for the Belgian or Flemish parliaments. In addition, there are also reports of European foreigners who registered to vote for the European parliament here also voting for the Flemish and federal parliaments.
The scale of these incidents is currently not yet clear.
According to the chairman of the Electoral Disputes Council, these irregularities could lead to problems if the battle for a seat was close. Parties can file a complaint. It is then up to the Flemish and federal parliaments to decide what to do with the respective Flemish and federal votes.