their activities, campaigns included, the political parties have to rely on government subsidies and dues paid by their members. Since no single party holds an absolute majority, after the election the strongest party or party family will usually create a coalition with some of the other parties to form the government. Voting is compulsory in Belgium, with more than 90% of the population participating. In 2021, voting for the local elections (municipal and province) was made voluntary from the 2024 elections. Belgian voters are given five options when voting. They may— Vote for a list as a whole, thereby showing approval of the order established by the party they vote for Vote for one or more individual candidates belonging to one party, regardless of his or her ranking on the list. This is a "preference vote" Vote for one or more of the "alternates (substitutes)" Vote for one or more candidates, and one or more alternates, all of the same party Vote invalid or blank so no one receives the vote Voting in Belgium is done by paper voting or electronic voting on a computer depending on the place of voting. A few weeks before the actual election, every Belgian older than 18 receives a voting card with the details of where and when to vote. The voting cards are sent by the municipal administration to all of the municipality's inhabitants based on the national population register. Voting bureaus are usually in schools. On polling day, always a Sunday, a volunteer at the voting bureau checks the voter in. After taking the voter's electronic identity card and voting card, the volunteer issues a magnetic card to operate the voting machine. After the voter has finished, the volunteer verifies that the magnetic card was used to cast a valid vote, then returns the voter's ID and voting card, now stamped as proof of having voted. Voters Voters are Belgian citizens over the age of 18 and residing in Belgium. They are automatically registered on the electoral rolls on reaching the age of 18 and are subject to compulsory voting. EU citizens aged 18 or older may register to vote in Belgium for European and municipal elections, a right established by European treaties. Non-EU citizens may register to vote in Belgium for municipal elections only, if living in Belgium for at least five years; this right was introduced in 2004 after extensive