WEBlog -- Wouter's Eclectic Blog

I'd expect because the concept is discussed only in countries that have non-standard systems.

As to belgians, they may not know the name, but they certainly know the concept. After all, Belgium is the country where some French-speaking Brusselaers (inhabitants of Brussels) vote for a random dutch-speaking "democratic party" just to offset the Vlaamse Blok^W^WVlaams Belang. If that's not tactical voting, I don't know what is.

They do it because it won't impact the French/Dutch speaking balance in parliament (hardcoded in constitution).

How is instant run-off broken for party-free board elections? It's recommended in Robert's Rules for mail votes, reportedly.

Proportional representation as used in Belgium but also in The Netherlands doesn't preclude tactical voting, although the influence is no doubt less. In recent elections for the Second Chamber (parliament) reportedly many people had voted 'tactially' for the PvdA instead of smaller left-wing parties they may have preferred. Their tactics are meant to influence not the chamber itself but the cabinet formation after that. A large PvdA would make a strong partner for the CDA, so a right-wing government was less feasible. They feared that distribution of left votes over a set of parties would make a CDA+VVD government more likely.