Mathilde will vote; Mathilde wants to count.
Mathilde knows politics. She grew up with a mother involved in a political party, meeting a few personalities here and there. At home, she heard a lot about politics. Now, at 29 years old, she is preparing to vote for the second time.
It is in Brussels that Mathilde will decide which party will win her favour. For the moment, it’s not a sure thing… “When I voted for the first time, my mother helped me and I was able to make a choice. Today, I don’t know who to vote for… On the one hand, I want to vote the same as last time, but my mother is no longer in politics. So, I don’t have much of an idea anymore… The question of the lives of persons with disabilities interests me, but I can’t find a party that talks about it.”
She confides that her first vote felt “weird” to her. “I didn’t really know how to do it. My mom came with me to the polling station to explain it to me. I was a little afraid of doing something stupid.” On 9 June, she will be accompanied. But by whom? “If I had to vote alone, I would still be afraid of doing something stupid and voting for a bad person… I can go with my mother, my sister, my dad. Someone trustworthy.”
Relatives who can help her make her choice between now and then. “I’m going to ask my parents, because my dad often talks to me about politics. But to get more information, I could also look on the Internet.” Faced with sites which are far from shining examples of inclusivity, and a news cycle that never stops, Mathilde manages to find her way – most of the time anyway.
“I type in the names of the media and go to their sites. It helps me! Sometimes I don’t quite understand, sometimes I do. I look at all the articles there and I read the titles. I also watch the news on TV.” Proof that the media world would benefit from fully opening up to a public which only asks to be better informed.
Voting in Brussels means voting electronically – a confrontation with digital technology that she does not fear. But the pitfalls remain. “There could be more help on voting day, like more arrows to know which office to go to.”
A smile lights up Mathilde’s face as she recounts the feeling she experienced in 2018; a feeling that is anything but trivial. “After voting, I was more than happy. I was really, really happy! It felt good to participate, to see that my voice was important. I then followed the election night on TV, but then, when we saw the results, I was no longer happy.”
If she hopes for outcomes more to her liking on the evenings of 9 June and 13 October (when Belgium will hold its municipal elections), Mathilde aspires above all to feel the sensation of importance, of belonging, when leaving the voting booth. “The feeling of counting.”
This article was translated from French; it first appeared in the “Laissez-moi voter” (Let me vote) issue of Inclusion Magazine. Discover the issue on Inclusion’s website.