In exactly one month it will be that time again: the Flemish, federal and European elections. Just over half of the Flemish municipalities use electronic voting computers. Many municipalities still do it with pencil and paper. “That is probably partly a coincidence, although there is also another explanation,” says political scientist Herwig Reynaert (UGent). Discover everything you need to know about the elections in your municipality in the interactive map.
It is immediately noticeable: if you live in West Flanders, there is a good chance that you still have to vote on paper. Even a central city like Ghent still does it in the traditional way with pencil and paper. Just like 140 other cities and municipalities in Flanders. Because in total only 159 municipalities used electronic voting computers. Why those differences? Political science professor Herwig Reynaert (UGent) explains.
(Read more below the map)
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“This is probably partly a coincidence, although there is also another explanation. When electronic voting emerged, a number of cities and municipalities jumped on the bandwagon. In other areas this was simply less the case. By never making the complete turnaround, you will remain in that situation today. In addition, the Flemish government used to reimburse voting computers. This cost was then passed on to the municipalities. Of course, that also reduced the enthusiasm to switch from paper to electronic. In fact, today we do not see any shifts towards more electronic voting,” Reynaert explains.
People work
Yet traditional pencil and paper voting does entail risks. The margin of error is slightly higher than with the electronic variant. “Of course it remains a human job, so I can imagine that mistakes are made every now and then. Although we should not exaggerate: any mistakes that may be made will not lead to major shifts in the results. Moreover, there are always witnesses and in the event of a dispute, a recount can always be requested,” says Reynaert. However, the risk of error with electronic voting is not zero. “Of course, something technical can always go wrong with electronic voting. Just think of a damaged USB stick or a defect in a voting computer.”
Perhaps the biggest disadvantage of paper voting is the workload. “It is indeed quite a job,” says Reynaert. “The ballots are removed from the bins where people deposit them. These must then be opened, because each ballot paper is submitted folded in half. Then all ballot papers are placed per political party. Then one can count how many votes each party has. Then, of course, the counters must also count all preferential votes. Quite a job,” Reynaert laughs. “People often like to do that, of course. This way you are very closely involved in politics in your own municipality.”
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