A lost, forgotten or missing polling card does not stop you from voting. You can ask your municipality for a duplicate until the polling stations close on election day itself, then show it with your identity document. For the Chamber, the Region and Community parliaments and the European Parliament, voting remains compulsory.
The letter is ordinary, which is why it gets lost.
What if the polling card is lost or never arrived?
The remedy is a single step: ask the municipal administration for a duplicate. The federal Home Affairs Ministry (the SPF Intérieur) says so plainly, and the rule sits in article 107 of the Electoral Code: a voter who has not received the letter "may collect it at the municipal secretariat until the polling stations in the municipality close".
The calendar matters more than the procedure. The municipality must post the cards at least fifteen days before the election, and the ministry specifies that a duplicate can only be requested in the week before the poll, not earlier. In between, a missing letter is just a late letter.
Take the last federal, regional and European election. On Sunday 9 June 2024, the posting deadline fell on Saturday 25 May 2024, exactly fifteen days earlier. For the municipal elections of Sunday 13 October 2030, the same calculation gives Saturday 28 September 2030, assuming the rules stay as they are. In both cases the legal deadline falls on a Saturday.
Can you vote without the card?
In practice no, but the duplicate settles the matter in a few minutes. If you left the letter at home, the ministry offers two ways out: go back for it, or ask the municipality for a duplicate. The door stays open until the polling stations close.
Some Flemish municipalities now send this duplicate through eBox, the official electronic mailbox, and printing it is up to you. One detail weighs heavily for proxies: the person voting in your place must hold the paper convocation. The full procedure is explained in our article on proxy voting.
What is on the letter, line by line?
Article 107 of the Electoral Code lists the mandatory details of the card. Five items, no more:
- the election day and the room where the voter must vote;
- the voter's surname and first names;
- their main residence;
- the number under which they appear on the electoral roll;
- a reminder of certain articles of the Electoral Code.
The letter goes to the current residence. Its colour varies: for the 2024 poll, La Libre reported a blue card for 16 and 17 year olds, who were called to the European election only, and white for other voters. EU citizens living in Belgium who are registered for the European poll alone also receive a blue document, according to the instructions of one Brussels municipality for the 2024 European election.
Which ID should you bring, and what if it is lost?
The identity card, or an equivalent identity document. The polling station president checks both items, your identity document and your convocation letter, before letting you vote. In electronic voting, the president hands you a chip card in exchange.
A lost or stolen identity card does not rule out voting. According to Droits Quotidiens, there are two solutions: the certificate issued by the police after you report the loss or theft, or another valid identity document, a passport for instance, or a driving licence. That site cites no specific legal provision on the point, and the Home Affairs Ministry has no dedicated question on identity cards: if in doubt, call your municipality a few days before the poll.
What are the steps on polling day?
- Find the room shown on the card: the ministry specifies that you vote at the station indicated, not at another one.
- Check the time. The slots printed on the letter are indicative, set by the municipality to limit queues. Stations open from 8 am to 2 pm for paper voting, until 4 pm for electronic voting, and a voter still in the room at closing time is allowed to vote.
- Show your identity document and your card to the station president.
- Vote, with a red pencil for a paper ballot, or on screen with the magnetic card for electronic voting.
- Take back the stamped card. It is returned with your identity document, stamped by the president or the delegated assessor: it is your proof that you voted.
Paper or electronic depends on the municipality. At the 2024 poll, according to the site Je m'informe, electronic voting covered all Brussels municipalities, the nine German-speaking municipalities and 159 Flemish municipalities, paper 253 Walloon municipalities and 141 Flemish ones. Your municipality announces its method on the letter or on its website.
Struck off, no address, abroad: no card at all
People who are not on the electoral roll. The Home Affairs Ministry cites people struck off by the authorities, with no address, or who have moved abroad: they cannot vote, and the municipality does not write to them. The Electoral Code is clear: "all persons entered on the electoral roll are called to the elections".
Someone who leaves the country just after the roll is closed must send the card they received back to their municipality.
Table of cases: what to do in your situation
| Your situation | What to do | Until when |
|---|---|---|
| Card lost | Ask the municipal administration for a duplicate | Until the polling stations close on election day |
| Card never received | Same step, but only in the week before the vote | Until the polling stations close on election day |
| Card left at home | Go back for it, or ask for a duplicate | Before the station closes |
| Identity card lost or stolen | Report to the police, vote with the certificate or another valid document | On election day |
| Digital duplicate received through eBox | Print it yourself | Before leaving to vote |
| You vote by proxy | Your proxy brings your paper card and their own identity document | On election day |
| Struck off, no address or moved abroad | No card, no vote possible | Not applicable |
And compulsory voting in all this?
It does not depend on the letter. For the Chamber, the European Parliament and the Region and Community parliaments, people registered in a Belgian municipality must vote from the age of 18, according to the Home Affairs Ministry, and a blank vote is allowed. Since the duplicate exists, losing the letter does not condition the obligation. The subject is covered in detail in our comparison of compulsory voting.
For municipal elections, Flanders lifted the obligation at the 2024 poll, and its municipalities send an invitation letter. In Brussels and Wallonia the obligation still applies, as our article on who can vote in municipal elections explains.
Once the ballot is in the box, the calculation that turns votes into seats is explained in the article on the D'Hondt method, and the one that places you in your constituency in the article on electoral constituencies. The ranking and the comparator place the parties theme by theme, and the methodology is a reminder that published scores describe a position on an axis, never a quality or a league table of merit.
Sources: Federal Public Service Home Affairs (SPF Intérieur), Elections Directorate, voters' FAQ; Electoral Code, law of 12 April 1894, article 107; Droits Quotidiens, lost identity card, how to vote, 29 May 2024; La Libre, the 9 June 2024 elections in nine questions, 8 June 2024; Je m'informe, paper, electronic, proxy voting; voter instructions, European elections, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre municipality, May 2024. Dates calculated for the 2030 poll assume the rules stay as they are today.
Institutions comparator
Compare the parties' positions on institutions.
Compare now →
Frequently asked questions
Camille est politologue, diplômée en sciences politiques de l'UCLouvain. Elle a suivi trois campagnes électorales belges comme analyste et décortique depuis dix ans les programmes des partis, vote par vote. Sur Meilleur Parti Politique, elle traduit le jargon politique en comparaisons concrètes — sans jamais dire pour qui voter.