Suchergebnisse

The 2003 Federal elections in Belgium put paid to an innovative governmental experience by bringing the four-year term of the so-called 'Rainbow coalition' to an end. The results seem to indicate that the coalition, bringing together Ecologists, Socialists & Liberals, did not work to the benefit of each party. While the Socialists & the Liberals recorded big gains in the elections the Flemish & the French-speaking Green parties were the main losers of the ballot. The election confirmed two other very important trends. First, the Christian democrats, historically the main political party in Belgium, continue a downward drift in support which began in the 1950s. Secondly, once again we saw the improved performance by the extreme right. In Flanders, the Vlaams Blok continue to make progress at every election, & in the French-speaking area, the National Front (EN) has increased its parliamentary representation. 3 Tables, 1 Appendix, 9 References. Adapted from the source document.

Computer voting was introduced in Belgium in 1994. Paradoxically, no action had been taken to ascertain the opinion of electors confronted with this original method of voting. This article verifies the social and empirical dimensions of legitimacy of this new method through several empirical indicators used in a survey conducted on the occasion of the federal elections of 18 May 2003: (a) how easy/difficult it was for electors to vote on a computer; (b) to what extent they trust voting on a computer; (c) if they have a philosophical/social opposition to voting on a computer.