After a night of despair following the European, Belgian, and French (first round) elections, I wanted to do something, anything at all that was a bit more constructive than simply say “this is upsetting”. Instead, I look at statistics for voter turnout. This doesn’t really apply to Belgium, with its compulsory voting, and yet, something is amiss there too.
What these graphics don’t address, of course, is that increasing voter turnout isn’t actually on the voters or even on political parties. It shows a level of disenchantment and lack of trust in the political system that can only be addressed through citizen consultation following by deep reform as well as education.
