Bakker Bugle Blog Say it three times fast. In Luxembourgish.

Anita and I cycled all over the south of Luxembourg today, through more than a dozen small towns. We often take a ride on Sundays because the traffic is light. Usually the small towns seem almost empty, with quiet voices from a few backyard get-togethers and nobody walking the streets.

Not so today! In every town we passed in Luxembourg, there were people walking purposefully to and from the center, where a voting facility was usually housed in the town hall or a school. In many towns, there was a sausage-and-crémant stand nearby with a crowd of adults and kids sitting in the sun and chatting.

Luxembourg is serious about voter turnout. Voting is mandatory, with a fine for citizens who fail to vote or obtain a waiver for a good excuse. (The fine is seldom collected, but still.) Voting day is almost always on a Sunday, when most shops are closed and few people work.

Although I’m eager to know the results of the referendum, they are really beside the point of these blog posts. I’m most interested in the debate — the justifications and arguments offered by the political parties and cited by the voters. So no matter what happens today, I’ll write a few more posts on that theme.

[Note: Edited June 5 @ 1215 EDT with corrections. Thanks Giny!]

For political debate, the United States has its soundbites and those thirty-second commercials ending with, “I’m Joe and I approve this message.” Luxembourg’s most visible political forum consists of tidy rows of posters from the major political parties. Every time an election approaches, these temporary structures appear all over the cities and in many towns, with each party assigned a numbered space.

For national and local elections, these posters often feature the faces of candidates. For the upcoming referendum, the message on most posters is a simple recommendation. (more…)