Brussels (Brussels Morning) – Belgium Court Mandates Compulsory Voting for 16 and 17-Year-Olds, Equalizing Voting Rights Across Age Groups
The young generation aged 16 and 17 will be obliged to vote in the EU Parliament elections after all, the Constitutional Court ruled. The judge said that they should be treated in the same way as adult voters.
Belgium first stated that it would expand the right to vote for the European Parliament over two years ago, letting young people from the age of 16 to vote. It was established last May that 16- and 17-year-olds – some 270,000 people in Belgium – would be permitted to vote in these elections, which will be kept alongside the country’s federal and provincial elections on 9 June 2024, but only after documenting, just like EU citizens have to do.
Several months later, the Belgian Constitutional Court judged that registration was no longer needed, as it noted it was “not reasonably justified” to make their right to vote conditional on such registration. However, voting was still not required for 16- and 17-year-olds, unlike for adults. A Belgian man went to the Constitutional Court to criticise this inequality and is now getting his way, as that authority is also being overturned.
The Court declared that it is not permitted for 16- and 17-year-olds to have the choice to vote or not, while adult voters are subject to Belgium’s traditional obligatory voting rules, as this would create an indefensible distinction between different kinds of voters. “The difference in the therapy of voters according to whether they are adults or minors does not occur to be justified by compelling reasons of public interest,” it said.
Essentially, this represents compulsory voting now also involves voters aged 16 and 17, indicating they will automatically be placed on the electoral registrations and will receive a convocation letter like adults. Furthermore, people from the age of 16 can be sanctioned if they neglect to vote. Home Affairs Minister Annelies Verlinden already indicated that punishments for adults cannot simply involve minors, and therefore asked Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt to work out a solution.
Youth associations such as the Flemish Scholierenkoepel condemned the new policy. “This has to be re-presented to hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren for the third time – not ideal, particularly so close to the elections,” Lore Sleeckx, president of the group, said.
The Brussels Commissioner for Europe and International Organisations also condemned the lateness of the judgment and the fact it leaves 16- and 17-year-old EU citizens living in Belgium in the darkness, as it is unclear if the rules will alter for young EU citizens. “This is a very fresh judgment from the Constitutional Court, so we need to notice what it means in practice,” Brussels Commissioner for Europe Alain Hutchinson said. “But it seems likely that voting will now also be obligatory for any 16- or 17-year-old EU citizens who are documented on the electoral list.”
He claimed that the latest possible change in the authorities just ten days before the deadline to register to vote is “unfortunate”, as it leaves them with just a few days to determine whether or not to partake in their first-ever elections. “I hope it does not confuse or frustrate young Europeans in Belgium from experiencing their first election,” Hutchinson said. “Whatever the decision, we must make sure that all young people in Brussels – including EU citizens – receive the correct details about their rights.”
