Expats receive vote registration at the last minute
EU citizens living in the City of Brussels and the municipality of Anderlecht didn’t receive a reminder to register to vote in Belgium in this May’s European elections until the final day on which they could register. More than 20,000 letters such letter didn’t arrive until the last minute. The Brussels regional news platform Bruzz quotes on expat as saying “This gives the impression that it was done because the EU said it must be done and that Belgium couldn’t really be bothered”
EU citizens residing in Belgium have the right to register to vote in the European elections here. The Federal Department of the Interior sends all those that are entitled to register a letter to remind them of their right to do so. However, non-Belgian EU citizens that live in the City of Brussels and the Brussels municipality of Anderlecht didn’t receive their reminders until 28 February, the final day on which they could register.
Expat Andreas Larsson told Bruzz “I believe that the Interior Ministry should have sent the letter at least a month earlier. The recipient needs time to act if he or she still isn’t registered”.
However, Koen Schuyten of the Interior Ministry’s Institutions and Population Service says that he understands the complaints from expats.
“We are aware that the letters destined for the City of Brussels and Anderlecht were sent too late and we certainly like to apologise for this. However, this was only a reminder and people had already been informed”.