The communal council can call upon the voters in the commune to express their opinion on matters of interest for the commune by way of a referendum.

This process is called a communal referendum. Even though the referendum only has an advisory nature, participation is mandatory.

A postal voting system has been implemented in order to enable all voters to participate in a communal referendum.

Requests for postal voting must be made in the voter's commune of residence, i.e. the commune in which the are registered in the communal registry of natural persons.

Who is concerned

All the voters registered on the electoral rolls for the communal elections of the commune concerned by the communal referendum can request the postal vote.

Prerequisites

In order to participate in a communal referendum, the voter must be registered on the electoral rolls for the communal elections.

Deadlines

The request for postal voting must be sent to the board of the mayor and aldermen of the commune of registration:

• at the earliest 12 weeks and at the latest 25 days before election day, if the poll card is sent to an address in Luxembourg;
• at the earliest 12 weeks and at the latest 40 days before election day, if the poll card is sent to an address abroad.

How to proceed

Application for postal voting

Voters who wish to vote by mail must inform the commune where they are registered and request their poll card.

The request can be made either:

• electronically on MyGuichet.lu;
  
• by post: on plain paper or on a pre-printed form which can be obtained from the voter's commune of residence.

Voters must provide their:

• surname and first name(s);
• date and place of birth;
• their address.
• the address to which the poll card has to be sent.

Upon receipt of the request, the commune checks if:

• the application contains the required information and documents;
• the applicant is registered on the electoral rolls;

Rejection of the application

If the applicant does not meet the conditions for postal voting (incomplete application or lack of registration on the electoral roll), the commune will inform them of the refusal:

• at the latest 20 days before the election, if the voter lives in Luxembourg;
• at the latest 35 days before the election, if the voter lives abroad.

Obtaining the poll card for the referendum

If the request for postal voting is accepted, the commune will send the poll card by registered mail to the voter.

The poll card is sent, at the latest:

• 15 days before the vote, if the voter lives in Luxembourg;
• 30 days before the vote, if the voter lives abroad.

The poll card contains the following information:

• the list of questions;
• the instructions for postal voting in a referendum;
• a voting envelope;
• a ballot form, duly stamped;
• an envelope, for the transmission of the electoral envelope which must bear the indication "Référendum - Vote par correspondance", the indication of the polling station on the lower right corner of the envelope and the reference number, name, first name (s) and address of the voter.

An alphabetical list of voters having applied for a postal vote will be prepared, including the surname(s), first name(s), date and place of birth, domicile and current address of each voter. The response given to each request is noted opposite the applicant's name. Voters appearing on this list may not choose another voting method.

Filling out and returning the ballot

Each voter has one vote per question asked.

Voters must fill out the ballot in the following manner:

• either by filling in one of the 2 boxes on the ballot next to each question;
• or by marking a cross (+ or x) in one of the two boxes next to each question.

Each filled box, even if only in part, or marked with a cross, even imperfectly, is deemed a valid vote, unless it becomes obvious that it is the voter's intent to become recognisable with the ballot paper.

Voters may express their votes using a pencil, a ballpoint pen or similar writing implement.

The following ballots will be deemed null and void:

• ballots other than those provided by the commune; or
• those expressing more than one vote per question asked; or
• those whose shape and dimensions have been altered; or
• those containing any piece of paper or other foreign object; or
• those whose authors may be rendered recognisable by a sign, a deletion or a mark not authorised by law.

Ballots containing no votes are considered blank.

However, ballots that express fewer votes than there are questions are valid. In other words, voters are not required to answer every question asked.

The visually impaired voter can use the tactile voting model provided by the commune to express their vote.

To send the ballot to the polling station, voters must place the folded ballot paper, with the stamp showing on the outside, in the electoral envelope. The electoral envelope must be placed inside the postal envelope and sent by ordinary post.

The envelope containing the ballot must be received by the appropriate polling station on polling day before 14:00 at the latest.

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