regarding compulsory voting. Can I register without casting a vote. I also don’t want my vote to automatically go to the party that gets the most votes. just don’t want to vote…

Answer

Dear MRS. Lemmens

You’re not the only one with that question. Fortunately, both the government’s election website and popular media are covering this question. She has also been answered on this website by Dr. Bram Wauters (see question 10366). Short answer: you can go to vote on Sunday without casting a vote, and that is called “blank voting” (you can effectively choose this on the voting computers, or on old ballots by simply not filling in anything.) A blank vote does not count in the final election result and in the final distribution of seats.

Below is the literal text of the federal government (whereby the provision is also valid for regional and European elections):
“Blank votes and invalid votes are not counted in the distribution of seats among the parties. These votes are therefore totally ignored in the distribution of seats and no party can rely on them. Consequently, only the ballot papers with valid votes for the various lists are taken into account for the distribution of seats.” (link can be found below)

Political scientist Kris Deschouwer (VUB) has answered the same question in more detail on the website of the VRT news editors (link below). There, too, is his claim that nothing actually “happens” with a blank vote, as it is not considered a “valid vote” with regard to vote counting. The count of the vote therefore only relates to those votes that contain information relating to party X or person Y. The idea that a blank vote is a vote for the majority is, according to Mr. Deschouwer, “a persistent misunderstanding” : “whoever does not vote or does not vote validly does not vote and leaves it to the other voters to determine which parties and candidates will receive many or few votes”.

This last sentence is especially important, because, paradoxically, a vote without consequence does not remain entirely without consequences. Let me make this clear with a hypothetical situation. Suppose in a highly simplified model that 100 votes are cast (= 100 people actually voted), whereby one can choose between 3 different parties A, B and C. Now suppose that 5 of these 100 voters have chosen to vote blank . This leads to the following possible distribution of the choosing intention:
A: 50 votes = 50% of the votes cast
B: 30 votes = 30% of the votes cast
C: 15 votes = 15% of the votes cast
Blank: 5 votes = 5% of the votes cast

Although 100 people went to vote in the above situation, according to the voting principles there are only 95 valid votes (the 5 blank votes are simply not counted in the total). This ultimately results in the following percentage distribution of the electoral result:
A: 50/95 votes = 52.6% of valid votes
B: 30/95 votes = 31.6% of valid votes
C: 15/95 votes = 15.8% of valid votes

The 5 blank votes do not count, so they do have an effect – you can see that the 5% they represented in the total votes cast (in the electoral intent) is in a sense “divided” between parties A, B and C approximately according to the share that these parties have in the votes, because only the valid votes (95 in number) are considered as the “total” (100%). And only this last total constitutes the electoral result, on which the distribution of seats will be based (the percentage of seats that a party receives roughly corresponds to its percentage share in the total of valid votes). Party A, for example, gets about 52.6% of the seats, although “only” 50% of the voters specifically chose party A.

A blank vote therefore boils down to the following message: “I do not wish to choose from the offer / I am not interested / it is all the same for me / let the other people determine the voting result / I do not wish for or against to vote for a party”. Absolutely nothing will happen with your blank vote! It is therefore not interpreted as “a vote for party X or person Y”. Your vote won’t be added to the “most voted party”, as you fear – you don’t have to worry about that at all. But, the other really valid votes all get a little “heavier” than they could have been if your blank vote had been “valid” – that’s the literal consequence of “let the other people choose”, and there you will find peace. have to take with you. The subsequent message of your blank vote is therefore: “I have no problem with the other, valid votes determining the final election result and the distribution of seats, regardless of which party was elected”. However, if you believe that certain parties certainly do not deserve a seat, or that a certain party certainly does, then it is better to vote validly – because only then can you be completely sure of the effect of your voting intention. Sometimes that means choosing the least bad choice.

Left
– You vote blank or invalid? Know what you’re doing
– For the voter (you will find the question about blank votes under “Election Transactions”)