At stake in this election:

• 150 seats in the Chamber of Representatives of Belgium

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: King PHILIPPE[1]
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Elio DI RUPO
• Assembly: Belgium has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Senate (Senaat / Senat) with 71 seats and the Chamber of Representatives (Volksvertegenwoordigers / Chambre des Representants) with 150 seats.[2]

Description of electoral system:

• In the Chamber of Representatives (Volksvertegenwoordigers / Chambre des Representants), 150 members are elected through a flexible-list proportional representation system to serve 5-year terms. There are 11 multi-member constituencies. Electors are given a list of candidates from each party. They may either vote for this list, backing the party's order, or cast a preferential vote for a specific candidate. Preferential votes have the ability to move candidates up and down the list order. In addition to a regular candidate list, parties provide a list of alternate candidates. These alternate candidates take office if a regular candidate takes a position as a minister. Although voters choosing to elect more than one preferential candidate, all votes must be for the same party. Party-lists must provide an equal number of male and female candidates. In addition, the first two candidates presented on a list must be from different genders. Following the first two names, however, parties may order their candidates as they choose, without regard to gender. There is a 5 percent minimum threshold for each party to reach in each district in 8 of the 11 constituencies.

Election Note:

• A series of institutional reforms were agreed upon during government formation negotiations in October 2011, sometimes referred to as the Butterfly Agreement. The Agreement has several provisions that pertain to the electoral system. First, term lengths were increased from 4 years to 5 years. Second, the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde district was abolished, replaced by one district for Flemish Brabant one district for Brussels Capital Region. Inhabitants of the Brussels Capital Regional can now only vote for lists that are registered in that region. Lastly, the system in which some senators were directly elected was replaced by a system of indirect election only. The state reforms also require parliamentary elections to be held on the same day as elections to the European parliament, which also occur once every 5 years. Regional elections will also be held on this day.
• The last election to the Belgian Chamber of Representatives was held on 13 June 2010. Results can be found here. The snap elections were called when the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats, under Alexander DE CROO, withdrew itself from the government coalition on 22 April 2010, only five months into the parliament’s term, in protest of its failure to resolve the issue of Brussels’s electoral representation. The subsequent government formation took a record 541 days and resulted in the sixth Belgian State Reform. Finally, on 6 December 2011, a new government coalition was formed between the Socialist Party, Christian Democratic and Flemish party, Reformist Movement, Socialist Party Different, Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats, and the Humanist Democratic Centre. Elio DI RUPO became the first Prime Minister from the French Community since 1974.

Main parties in this electoral race:

• Christian Democratic and Flemish / Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V)
  • Leader: Wouter BEKE
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 17
• Green / Groen[3]
  • Leader: Wouter VAN BESIEN
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 5
• Libertarian, Direct, Democratic / Libertair, Direct, Democratisch (LDD)[4]
  • Leader: Jean-Marie DEDECKER
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 1
• New Flemish Alliance / Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA)
  • Leader: Bart DE WEVER
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 27
• Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats / Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten (Open Vld)
  • Leader: Gwendolyn RUTTEN
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 13
• Socialist Party Different / Socialistische Partij Anders (sp.a)
  • Leader: Bruno TOBBACK
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 13
• Flemish Interest / Vlaams Belang (VB)
  • Leader: Gerolf ANNEMANS
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 12
• Humanist Democratic Centre / Centre démocrate humaniste (cdH)
  • Leader: Benoît LUTGEN
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 9
• Confederated Ecologists for the for the Organization of Original Struggles / Écologistes Confédérés pour l'organisation de luttes originales (Ecolo)
  • Leaders: Emily HOYOS, Olivier DELEUZE
  • Seats won in last Chambers of Deputies election: 8
• Francophone Democratic Federalists / Fédéralistes Démocrates Francophones (FDF)
  • Leader: Olivier MAINGAIN
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: N/A[5]
• Reformist Movement / Mouvement Réformateur (MR)
  • Leader : Charles MICHEL
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 18
• Socialist Party / Parti Socialiste (PS)
  • Leader: Paul MAGNETTE
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 26
• People’s Party / Parti populaire / Personenpartij (PP)
  • Leader: Mischaël MODRIKAMEN
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 1
• Workers’ Party of Belgium / Partij van de Arbeid van België (PVDA) / Parti du Travail de Belgique (PTB)[6]
  • Leader: Peter MERTENS
  • Seats won in last Chamber of Deputies election: 0

Population and Voter Registration:

• Population: 10,499,361 (2014 est.)
• Registered Voters: 7,966,698 (2012)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 5,712,509 (2014)

·         Is Belgium a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (17 July 1980)

·         Has Belgium ratified CEDAW: Yes (10 July 1985)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 59 (Chamber of Representatives); 27 (Senate) (following 2014 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 21 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Belgium a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Belgium ratified CRPD: Yes (2 July 2009)

·         Population with a disability: 1,574,904 (est.)