The election in Brussels has not been a shining example of how to do it. Some voters had to queue for two (!) hours before they could cast their vote. Elsewhere the Red Cross handed out bottles of water. Some were keen to blame the large number of first-time voters in the capital as well as the over-16s who are now obliged to vote in the European elections. In Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe there were problems with voting computers and there and in Schaarbeek polling stations stay open till 6PM.
Zeynep Balci, a candidate for the Flemish socialist Vooruit and the spokesperson for Brussels first minister Rudi Vervoort (Francophone socialist) blames Belgian interior minister Annelies Verlinden (Flemish Christian democrat) and the Brussels local government minister Bernard Clerfayt (Francophone Democrat). Balci says it was quite predictable that there would be 600,000 new voters in the capital: “It was perfectly possible to take this into account. This has nothing to do with a growing population. It’s bad organisation”.
Long waiting times were voters’ lot in the City of Brussels and its districts Laken and Neder-Over-Heembeek, in Anderlecht, Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe and in parts of Schaarbeek. In Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe and Schaarbeek polling places stay open till 6PM to deal with the backlog.
Several Brussels mayors have said there were few technical hitches. The voting system experienced bugs in Anderlecht, but they were soon sorted. Philippe Close, the Francophone socialist mayor of the City of Brussels said the population increase in his municipality plus over 16-year-olds who now have to vote in the European elections were a factor.
In Schaarbeek acting mayor Cécile Jodogne (Francophone democrat) conceded that the average waiting time was long, pointed to the fact three elections were being held at the same time and the fact some voters needed assistance.