This paper studies the effect of multiple office-holding on the electoral results at the national and local level in Belgium. The practice denotes the simultaneous exercise of a directly elected parliamentary function and a municipal mandate, and is extremely popular in all Belgian parliament. Previous research assumed that combining offices was electorally advantageous, but found little empirical evidence to confirm this expectation. Nevertheless, research neglects other interpretations of the electoral surplus by merely focusing on the national personal score. In our effort, however, we examine whether dual mandate-holding pays off both individually and collectively, as in for the entire candidate list as a whole. Furthermore, we will analyze the preferential votes at the municipal and national level. We will use data of the most recent Belgian regional and national elections in 2014 and the most recent municipal election in 2012.
