Application for the non-Belgian citizens outside the European Union

Attention !
The real form is in French and must be sent as such. But we have translated this one into English below to help you.
Therefore, the official form to send can be downloaded here.

 

Annex – Model of the application that non-Belgian citizens outside the European Union who have established their main residence in Belgium must submit to the municipality of that main residence if they wish to be entered on the voters’ list drawn up for municipal elections.                                                          

I, the undersigned

  • Full name: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
  • Date of birth: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
  • Address: ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
  • Nationality: …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
  • National number :

hereby request[1] , in accordance with article 1 ter, paragraph 1, of the communal electoral law, inserted by the law of March 19, 2004, my registration on the electoral roll which is drawn up every six years, in anticipation of the ordinary renewal of the communal councils, on August 1 of the year in which this renewal takes place.

I declare that I undertake to respect the Constitution, the laws of the Belgian people and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

I declare that I am aware of :

  • if my application for registration on the voters’ list is approved[2] ,
    • If I have established my main residence in a municipality of the Flemish Region, I can stand for election;
    • If I have established my main residence in a commune of the Walloon Region or the Brussels-Capital Region, I am obliged to stand for election, failing which I will be subject to the penalties laid down by the Local Democracy and Decentralization Code in the Walloon Region and by the Brussels-Capital Region’s Communal Electoral Code.
  • that my application for registration on the electoral roll may be refused if it appears :
    • I have not established my main residence in Belgium uninterruptedly for five years prior to submitting my application[3] ;
    • I have not reached the age of eighteen by the date of the first communal elections following the signing of the present document;
    • that on that date, I will fall under the application of articles 6 to 8 of the Electoral Code on account of a conviction or decision handed down in Belgium;
  • that even if my application for registration on the voters’ list is approved, this approval may be withdrawn if granted,
    • I am the subject of a conviction or decision handed down in Belgium which, in application of Articles 6 to 8 of the Electoral Code, entails either permanent exclusion from electoral rights or the suspension, on the date of the elections, of those same rights;
    • it appears that I have been permanently struck off the population registers in Belgium, either for failing to declare my change of residence without my new residence having been discovered, or for transferring my residence abroad;
  • that if my application for registration is refused, I benefit from the complaints and appeals procedure provided for in article 1 bis, §3, of the Communal Electoral Law, inserted by the law of January 27, 1999[4] , which is applicable to me in accordance with article 1ter, paragraph 2, of the Communal Electoral Law, inserted by the law of March 19, 2004.

…………………………………………………….., ………………………….. [5]

                                                                                              (Signature)

Acknowledgement of receipt (acknowledgement can be sent by e-mail if the application was submitted online).

            The application for registration of ……………………… (full name) …………………………… was received by the Population Department on …………………. (date).

Municipality stamp Signature.

[1] Written applications can be submitted to the municipal administration or online using the form available at https://elections.fgov.be.

[2] The Collège des bourgmestre et échevins (read « Collège communal » in the Walloon Region) checks whether the applicant meets the electoral requirements and, if so, notifies the applicant by registered letter of its decision to register him or her on the electoral roll. This registration is also recorded in the population registers.

The following conditions must be met in order to be eligible to vote: to have established one’s main residence uninterruptedly for five years in Belgium, to be at least eighteen years of age, to be entered in the population registers of the municipality to which the application is submitted, not to be in one of the cases of exclusion or suspension of electoral rights provided for in Articles 6 to 8 of the Electoral Code, and to declare on honour that one undertakes to respect the Constitution, the laws of the Belgian people and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Entry in the population registers must be interpreted within the meaning of article 1, § 1, subparagraph 1, 1°, of the law of July 19, 1991 relating to population registers and identity cards and amending the law of August 8, 1983 organizing a national register of natural persons, i.e. entry in the population registers or in the register of foreigners.

The conditions of age and non-suspension or non-exclusion of electoral rights must be met by election day at the latest.

[3] At the time of application, the applicant must have been legally resident in Belgium for five uninterrupted years.

[4] If the applicant does not meet one or other of the electoral requirements, the college of burgomasters and aldermen of the municipality of residence notifies the applicant by registered letter, stating the reasons, of its refusal to register the applicant on the electoral roll.

In this case, the applicant may, within ten days of this notification, raise any objections by registered letter addressed to the College of Burgomasters and Aldermen. The college will make its decision within eight days of receipt of the objection, and the interested party will be notified of its decision immediately by registered letter.

If the College of Burgomasters and Aldermen upholds its refusal, the applicant may appeal against this decision to the Court of Appeal within eight days of the notification referred to in the previous paragraph.

The appeal is lodged by means of a request submitted to the public prosecutor at the Court of Appeal. The latter immediately informs the college of burgomasters and aldermen of the commune concerned.

The parties have a period of ten days from the date of submission of the request to file new pleadings.  Once this period has elapsed, the Public Prosecutor sends the file, together with any new documents or submissions, to the Chief Clerk of the Court of Appeal within two days, who acknowledges receipt.

For the rest, the procedure before the Court of Appeal is governed by articles 28 to 39 of the Electoral Code.

The operative part of the judgment handed down by the Court of Appeal is notified without delay and by all means, by the public prosecutor, to the college of burgomasters and aldermen which handed down the decision under appeal and to the other parties.

The judgment is immediately enforceable if it recognizes the appellant as a qualified elector.

Appeals are decided both in the absence and presence of the parties. Decisions handed down by the Court of Appeal in this matter are deemed to be contradictory and are not subject to appeal.

[5] Applications for entry on the voters’ list drawn up for municipal elections may be submitted at any time, except during the period between the day on which the list is drawn up (August 1 of the year in which the ordinary renewal of municipal councils takes place) and the day of the election for which the list is drawn up. From the day after election day, they may again be submitted.

Similarly, at any time, except during the period referred to in the previous paragraph, any person who has been approved as a voter may declare in writing to the commune in which he or she has established his or her principal residence that he or she no longer wishes to vote.

Approval as a voter remains valid as long as the person concerned continues to meet the conditions of electorate and has not renounced his or her status as a voter, regardless of the commune in which he or she resides in Belgium.  In the event of a change of residence to another commune in Belgium, the new commune of residence may ask the non-Belgian citizen from outside the European Union to produce proof of the declaration by which he or she has undertaken to respect the Constitution, the laws of the Belgian people and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

If, after having been approved as a voter, a non-Belgian citizen from outside the European Union declares in writing to the commune of his or her main residence that he or she no longer wishes to vote, he or she may not reapply for approval as a voter until after the commune elections for which he or she was registered as a voter.