Belgian Local Exit-Poll 2018

This research project aims to explain voters’ attitudes and motivations at the
2018 Belgian local elections in Wallonia and Brussels. It is the Frenchspeaking
component of the national project « Belgian Local Exit-Poll ». It is
coordinated by UNamur and gathers several researchers from the main
universities of the Federation Wallonia-Brussels: UNamur, ULB, UCL et
ULg. Two main research themes are studied: on the one hand, the process
of nationalisation which challenges the local and singular nature of local
elections, and, on the other hand, the process of personalisation, which
underlines the growing influence of candidates’ individual traits on voting
behaviour compared to local and national issues. The project also studies
the interaction of the two processes. For that research goal, this research
project funds the preparation and the conduct of a face-to-face exit poll in
17 municipalities in Wallonia and Brussels (124 pollsters). It furthermore
uses the mock-ballot technique while the questionnaire combines open and
closed questions. This combination of methods is particularly fruitful to
collect accurate and reliable data on voting behaviour on the elections day.
More generally this project strengthens a dynamic of research collaboration
on local politics amongst researchers in the Federation Wallonia-Brussels
and in the Flemish Community.