Compulsory voting: what do Belgian parties propose?
Neutral comparison of Belgian parties' positions on compulsory voting in 2026: keeping the obligation or moving to optional voting, after Flanders ended it. Pros and cons, public sources.
Category
Institutions
Understanding the issue
Belgium combines a federal State, three Regions and three Communities, the product of six successive reforms. The institutional debate follows a Flanders-Wallonia divide: in the north, parties demand more autonomy, from confederalism to Flemish independence; in the south and on the left, parties defend the federal level, even refederalising powers such as healthcare. Two poles thus frame the axis: maintaining the federal State versus confederalism.