§1. When a Belgian citizen registers with the population register in a Belgian diplomatic post or consulate abroad, the Belgian diplomatic post or consulate hands out an application form for the registration whose model has been defined by the King to the Belgian citizen.

It hands out this application form to all the Belgian citizens already registered in the population register who have had applied for it. The letter enclosed to this application form is signed by the director of this diplomatic post or consulate.

Between the first day of the ninth month and the first day of the sixth month following the date fixed for the ordinary elections to the Chamber of Representatives, each diplomatic post or consulate delivers the Belgian citizens registered with them an application form for the registration with the exception of the following cases:

1° the Belgian citizen is already registered in a registration municipality;
2° the Belgian citizen has been registered with a registration municipality before and has not voted yet even s/he has been invited to vote according to chapter II of the present title.
3° the Belgian citizen has not responded to the letter mentioned in article 180septies, § 1, first sentence, on the occasion of the second to last legislative elections and has not re-registered in time to execute his right to vote in the last legislative elections; in this case, in deviation from the second sentence, the Belgian citizen is only registered again if s/he can attest his residence in the constituency of the post.

If the Belgian citizen needs to be registered in one of the municipalities mentioned in article 180 second sentence, 1°, 2° or 3°, the form indicates his registration municipality. However, if the Belgian citizen needs to be registered in a municipality according to article 180, sentence 2 3°, and that his/her father or mother has last been enlisted in different population registers, the Belgian citizen is invited to specify in which of those two municipalities s/he likes to be registered.

If the Belgian citizen has to be registered in one of the municipalities mentioned in article 180, second sentence, 4°, s/he indicates the municipality for which s/he can prove by referring to any legal process, one of the connection relatives listed in this provision 

§2. The Belgian citizen indicates on the form mentioned in §1 in which way s/he would like to exercise the right to vote.

§3. The Belgian citizen living abroad hands in the completed, signed and dated application form and if necessary the documents proofing s/he needs to be registered in a community mentioned in article 180, sentence two, 4°, either personally or sends it to the diplomatic post or consulate where s/he  registered.

This application for registration is valid for the participation of the Belgian citizen in all legislative election taking place from the first day of the forth month after the deposit of the form for as long as the Belgian citizen is registered in the population register of the same diplomatic post or consulate.

§4. After the verification of the conditions of the electorate in the chef-lieu of the applicant, compliant to article 180, sentence 5, the diplomatic posts or consulates indicate the municipality mentioned in article 180, sentence 2, and the chosen procedure to vote in the consular register of the population.

If the form indicates a municipality compliant to article 180, sentence 2, 4°, the diplomatic posts or consulates transfer this form and its annexes via the Federal Service Public Foreign Affairs, Foreign Commerce and Development Cooperation, to this municipality within a month of the reception of the form. As soon as the Council of burgomasters and lay judges receives the form, it or a communal council, verifies if the Belgian does really have to be registered in his municipality compliant to article180, sentence 2, 4°. If not, the Council of burgomasters and lay judges or the communal committee informs the person concerned via the diplomatic post or consulate of its decision.

As soon as the list of voters is closed, compliant to article 10, 1er, 1er sentence, the Council of burgomasters and lay judges sends a copy of the list of the Belgian voters living abroad having chosen to vote by postal ballot or the vote in person or proxy in a diplomatic post or consulate The Belgian citizens living abroad figuring on the voter’s list are deleted if between the date the list is established and the Election Day, they fail to satisfy the conditions of being Belgian or pass away.

The Belgian voters living abroad who after the voters’ list has been established become subject of a conviction or an important decision like the exclusion from the rights to vote, or the suspension of those on Election Day are equally deleted from the voters’ list.

§5. If a diplomatic post or consulate refuses to accept a Belgian citizen living abroad as a voter, it informs the person concerned in written form about the reasons of this decision and sends a copy of the decision through the Federal Public Service Foreign to the Belgian municipality in which the person concerned has to be registered as voter.

In the 30 days after the reception of this notification or, in the 30 days of the notification mentioned in §4, second sentence, the person concerned may present a written complaint before the Council of burgomasters and lay judges or the communal college of the municipality in which s/he needs to be registered as voter.

The Council of burgomasters and lay judges shall pronounce its decision within two weeks of the receipt of the complaint and immediately inform in a written note the person concerned via the diplomatic post or consulate where the voter is registered.

The person concerned may appeal against this decision before a Court of Appeal in Brussels within 30 days after the notification.

After the expiration of this deadline, the decision of the Council of burgomasters and lay judges is definite.

The appeal is delivered by handing in a request to the General State Attorney at the court of appeal in Brussels.

The parties have twenty days counting from the delivery of the request to hand in new conclusions. After this deadline, the General State Attorney sends the file including the new pieces or conclusions within two days to the head clerk of the court of appeal in Brussels that acknowledges receipt.

The articles 28 to 39 are to be applied.

§5bis. If after his registration the Belgian citizen wishes to modify the modality through which s/he likes to exercise this right to vote, s/he hands in personally or by post a request in this regard at the diplomatic post or consulate. This modification is valid for all legislative elections taking place after the first day of the forth month following the request.

§6. In the case of article 106, the list of Belgian voters living abroad is closed on the 15th day before the election.

However, the voters are invited to the voting based on the list drawn for the ordinary reunion of the electoral colleges if the dissolution of the Chamber of Representatives is stipulated to take place after the 24th day that precede the day of the ordinary meeting of the electoral college with the consequent meaning of having to organize an election before the fixed date.

The provisions in articles 15 and 93 are to be applied under the following conditions:

1° in the first sentence of article 15, the words “as well as the one mentioned in article 180bis §6, first sentence have been established” are put after the words “article 10” and the words “has been established” are deleted;
2° In article 93, the following sentence has been introduced between the first and sentence 2:

“For the Belgian citizens living abroad, the governor of the province or the magistrate he appoints implement this transmission at least twelve days before the elections”.

The operations summed up in the paragraphs 1 to 4 of the present article including the receipt of the forms by the municipalities, must be accomplished before the 15th day before the Election Day.

The governor of the province or the magistrate he appoints see to it that the Council of burgomasters and lay judges sends at least ten days before the elections an invitation to vote to each Belgian voter living abroad via the diplomatic post or consulate where s/he is registered.