Voting by Proxy in Belgium: How It Works

Belgian law allows proxy voting in seven situations: illness, work reasons, self-employed or boatman activity, detention, religious convictions, studies, and a temporary stay abroad. The voter fills in a form with a supporting document, and the proxy holder votes twice: first for themselves, then for the voter.

The rest is a matter of documents, signatures and dates. That is where proxies go wrong.

Is proxy voting allowed in Belgium?

Yes, and the Constitution provides for it. Article 62 states that voting is compulsory and secret ("le vote est obligatoire et secret") and that it takes place in the municipality "sauf les exceptions à déterminer par la loi", that is, except for exceptions to be set by law. Proxy voting is one of those exceptions, framed by the Electoral Code and detailed by the FPS Interior (the federal Home Affairs ministry) on elections.fgov.be.

Ballot secrecy is not affected: the proxy holder casts the voter's ballot and nobody knows what was chosen. The compulsory-voting rule itself, and the debate around it, is covered in our comparison of compulsory voting.

In which cases can you vote by proxy?

Seven, and the list is closed. Simply not wanting to travel is not enough.

Each ground calls for its own document, issued by a different authority, and has its own deadline. The table below gathers the seven cases as described by the FPS Interior and Infor Jeunes, the Belgian youth information service.

Two grounds, self-employment and a stay abroad, therefore close at the latest the day before, whereas the other five tolerate an unforeseen event on the day itself. An illness that strikes on Saturday evening is still covered. A weekend trip is not.

Who can be a proxy holder, and how many proxies can they carry?

Any other voter, with one condition and one cap.

The condition: the proxy holder must themselves be a voter for the election concerned. A European resident who is not Belgian and does not vote for the Chamber (the federal lower house) therefore cannot represent anyone there, according to the rules recalled by the FPS Interior. The cap: a proxy holder receives only one proxy, so that no one accumulates the votes of an entire circle of acquaintances. When several relatives from one family are away, you need as many proxy holders as there are absent voters.

Minors cannot act as proxy holders either.

How to give a proxy, step by step

The procedure takes five steps, from earliest to latest.

1. Choose your proxy holder and make sure they have not already accepted another proxy.
2. Obtain the supporting document matching your ground: medical certificate, statement from the employer, institution or religious authority, or certificate from the mayor.
3. Fill in the proxy form, which both the voter and the proxy holder sign. It can be downloaded from elections.fgov.be or collected at the municipality.
4. Attach the supporting document to the form and hand it to the proxy holder, who keeps it until election day.
5. Respect the deadline for your ground: the day before for the self-employed and travellers, the day itself for the others.

The form varies by Region, a detail that costs time to anyone who downloads an old model.

What must the proxy holder bring on election day?

Three documents: the signed form, their ID card, and their own polling card, stamped once they have voted for themselves.

A dated example: the election of 9 June 2024

On Sunday 9 June 2024, Belgians voted for the Chamber, the regional parliaments and the European Parliament. A student away on holiday abroad that weekend, and therefore under the temporary-stay ground, had to obtain a certificate from the mayor by Saturday 8 June at the latest, as Infor Jeunes points out. Their proxy holder walked into the polling station on Sunday with the form, an ID card and a polling card already stamped by their own vote.

Under the illness ground, the same voter would have had until Sunday morning to obtain a certificate. The rule reads better on a calendar than in a table: the same Sunday, two grounds, two deadlines.

Checkpoints before handing over your proxy

Four checks avoid most of the trouble:

• the proxy holder is not already carrying another proxy;
• the supporting document matches the ground ticked on the form;
• the voter and the proxy holder have both signed;
• the proxy holder knows they will vote for themselves first, with their polling card in their pocket.

And for municipal elections, or for Belgians living abroad?

The broad lines are found again in municipal elections, but the texts differ from one Region to another and the form is the municipality's. Foreign residents registered as municipal voters follow the rules of their own election, set out in our article on who can vote in municipal elections. In Flanders, the voting obligation has been lifted for municipal elections, which changes the practical scope of a proxy.

For Belgians living abroad, the regime is separate and goes through the diplomatic or consular post. It deserves its own check with the FPS Foreign Affairs rather than a risky generalisation here.

Sources: FPS Interior, Directorate of Elections, Le vote par procuration (in French); Belgian Constitution, article 62 (in French); Infor Jeunes, Vote papier, électronique, par procuration (in French). The rules described apply to federal, regional and European elections; always check the official form and calendar of the election concerned.