Saint Josse-ten-Noode (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The citizens of Saint Josse-ten-Noode will participate in voting again on February 9 2025, after officials cancelled the October election due to illegal proxy voting procedures. The political field consists of five active candidate lists totalling 132 nominees, including current Mayor Emir Kir.
Saint-Josse-ten-Noode residents must return to the polls tomorrow, February 9, 2025, since the October 13, 2024 election results were cancelled for irregular proxy vote procedures. An extraordinary election for Saint-Josse residents became necessary due to the BRU’s court decision so they could select from five lists and 132 candidates. The polling stations will operate from 08:00 until 16:00. The additional election takes place to maintain election integrity based on concerns about potential irregularities in the previous voting process.
The LB won the October 2024 elections and secured an absolute majority by collecting 50.5% of all votes cast. Proxy vote irregularities, together with accusations of election fraud, forced authorities to conduct an investigation. Ahmed Mouhssin (Ecolo-Groen) stated,
“We found at least 300 to 350 problematic proxy votes.”
According to the Brussels Court of Law, the voting by proxy system contained flaws because signatures were absent while certain voting data was incomplete and there were no valid certificates for the voting process.
The flawed voting procedures resulted in election results annulment after authorities determined that the democratic process required a re-vote to prevent corruption in the electoral process. As PS alderman Philippe Boïketé noted,
“All three parties could have gained an extra seat, only we don’t know how the 300 irregular votes would have been distributed.“
The candidates for the re-election are:
- Engagés-cd&v-MR-VLD (led by Saïd Benhammou)
- ECOLO-GROEN (led by Ahmed Mouhssin)
- PS : Parti Socialiste (led by Philippe Boïketé)
- TEAM FOUAD AHIDAR (led by Ibrahim Dankus), with a list of 16 candidates
- List du Bourgmestre or LB (led by Emir Kir)
New, stronger protocols exist to stop past problems from recurring in this new run of the system. Jonas Declercq, a spokesperson for the regional administration Local Authorities, explained,
“Unlike October, when the municipalities trained the polling station chairpeople, the region provided its own training this time.”
He insisted that proxy checks received dedicated attention when training polling station chairpeople.
The chairs received instructions about target clues and non-acceptable proxy behaviours from the October vote. Under the new system, voters must use their proxies to vote who are registered residents of Saint-Josse, so the process remains more accountable. As stated in the elections.Brussels website,
“Voters from other communes in Brussels or other regions cannot therefore vote on your behalf.”
What’s the context behind Saint-Josse’s election troubles?
Saint-Josse stands as an exclusive case amongst Brussels municipalities because it represents the only territory that has yet to form its municipal council after the October elections. The legal issues coupled with a reelection process have left Saint-Josse in prolonged suspension as it stands apart from Brussels’ other 18 communes.
Furthermore, aside from the proceedings through the Brussels parliament,
“a second investigation from the Brussels public prosecutor’s office into Emir Kir’s campaign is also underway“.
The accusations against Levent Kir involve using municipal website resources for campaign purposes alongside his recruitment of municipal communication advisors to work on his personal campaign.
Every resident of Saint-Josse who signed up for the October 13 elections must participate in voting on February 9. As Declercq clarified,
“The new electoral roll of the commune of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode was finalised on November 19 2024.”
Moreover, echoing previous sentiments, Kir’s team stated,
“We are confident, strengthened by our October 13 victory and the support of the people,”
and affirmed Vox populi, vox Dei. When people express their wishes, they are paralleled by the words of God.
