EU Issue Voting in Simultaneous Elections: The Case of Belgium

Abstract

AbstractIn terms of electoral rules, Belgium is an odd case out among the countries investigated in this volume on several levels. Elections for the regional, national and European level are held on the same day, and all voters are obligated to turn out to vote. This combination of circumstances makes Belgium a least-likely case to find evidence for EU voting on the national level: voters can express their European interests with a vote for that level specifically at the same moment, and the forced and less interested part of the electorate is less likely to express strong issue preferences with their vote. This study first shows that, overall, the European issue is not very salient in Belgium, and that there is a generally positive consensus among the parties and in the media. However, still, there are some effects of the EU issue on national voting behaviour. While these are limited overall, also other well-known determinants of the vote do not show strong effects. Explaining voting behaviour in the complex Belgian case remains challenging, and the EU issue seems to provide one piece of the puzzle.