Last year it was announced that they would be able to choose, but now the Constitutional Court rules that they must: young people between 16 and 18 years old will be obliged to vote in the European elections of June 9. “This has to be explained to all those young people for the third time.”
There are 270,000 of them, the 16 and 17 year olds who will be allowed to vote for the first time in the European Parliament elections on June 9. And like all other Belgians, they will also have to go to the voting booth. The Constitutional Court decided this in a judgment on Thursday. At the end of last year, the federal government announced that young people between the ages of 16 and 18 were not required to attend. The Vivaldi parties wanted to give them the choice. “Not all young people at that age are equally politically involved,” minister Annelies Verlinden (CD&V) justified this choice.
In its judgment, the Court has now turned down those rules. They are contrary to the principle of equality. The Court sees “no compelling reasons” to make a distinction between minors and adults. By the way, it was an adult man who is resolutely against compulsory attendance, who went to the Constitutional Court to denounce this unequal treatment.
In addition, the Court warns of “a risk of serious harm that is difficult to repair”. Because if the European elections were to take place according to the established rules, they would have been organized “on an unconstitutional basis”. This de facto also means that the result could subsequently be labeled as invalid. The judgment therefore imposes an immediate suspension of the rules.
Not plain sailing
In 2021, Belgium was the fourth country, after Austria, Greece and Malta, to respond to the European Union’s request to give young people aged sixteen and over the opportunity to vote. But the organization of this did not go smoothly. The new judgment of the Constitutional Court comes on top of an earlier judgment regarding the registration system that the government wanted to introduce for 16 and 17 year olds. As an interim measure, minors who wanted to vote had to register. This registration was then linked to an obligation to vote. But the Court found that system “not reasonably responsible”.
All these changes mean that many of the 16 and 17 year olds in question no longer know exactly how the rules work. “Who can still follow?” asks the Flemish School Association. “This has to be explained to all those young people for the third time. Not ideal, just before the elections. And certainly not because they coincide with the exams.” In addition, the judgment – just under three months before the elections – also means a mountain of extra work for the administrations. “Minors will automatically be placed on the electoral lists and will also receive a summons letter, just like adults,” Minister Verlinden said.
In addition, 16 and 17 year olds now also risk a sanction if they do not show up. Adults who do not go to the polling station on election day theoretically risk a fine. In practice, non-voters have not been prosecuted for years. The government will have to work out a separate arrangement for minors. They cannot simply receive the same punishment as adults. Even if it is a purely theoretical punishment.