The thing about this signal is that it can be whatever the politicians want it to be. It’s all in the interpretation. Parties whose electoral results are actually lower than in previous elections, can even claim that they won if they did not lose as badly as everyone expected. Clearly, the voters’ signal was that this party is not on the way down!

Parties can also claim issues by using the voters’ signal. They can, for instance, say that state reform is badly needed, now more than ever before. Why? Well, because that is the voters’ signal! Sometimes, post-electoral research into the motives of the electorate shows that these claims are unfounded. There are a multitude of reasons why voters vote the way they do. Still, by the time these researches are concluded, months have passed and everyone has accepted the parties’ versions of what the signal means.

The same thing happened this weekend with the Antwerp referendum on the planned Oosterweel link. As soon as the results came in, everyone involved interpreted them. The action groups who started out the referendum claimed victory. Of course they had won – nearly 60% of the voters had voted against the current plans, including the Lange Wapper viaduct. Now there’s a signal!

But those who supported the plans had also heard the voters’ signal: 40% support the plans. As for those who oppose them, surely they on oppose only part of them – more specifically, the 18-lane junction near the Sportpaleis. CD&V alderman Marc Van Peel took the interpreting to an even higher level when he talked about those people who did not turn out to vote. Their signal? “They want the politicians to take their responsibility.”

All of that may seem like idle talk, but it is not. It will be important in the decisions to be made in the next couple of weeks. Don’t underestimate the voters’ signal!