Should citizens of your country that live elsewhere have the right to vote?

@malte I like that the EU requires local elections to allow EU citizen local residents to vote, and I like that Sweden goes further and allows all local residents of age to vote in local elections.

@evan

@DavidBHimself I have lived in another country. I even held a triple citizenship for a certain time. I didn’t vote in elections for regions I was not residing in.

The question is literally: Should people that lived in your country (A) but moved away to another country (B) be still allowed to vote in your country (A)?

@evan

As a Swede living abroad, I also appreciate that, as I'm still subject to some Swedish regulation, my citizenship still gives me the right to vote in national elections.

I just find it a bit funny that I'm voting for representatives of the last Swedish circuit I lived in, and I wish Sweden did it like France and had a separate Swedes abroad circuit. Organizations for Swedes abroad are lobbying for this, but they have been doing it forever without much progress.

One more thing about EU rules: EU citizens, citizens of an EU country, vote for EU Parliament representatives of the country they reside, not their country of citizenship. This also makes sense to me.

There is some cheating going on where some people double-vote in their country of citizenship and their country of residence, but according to reports, it's too insignificant to matter.

@evan @malte

@EdwinG
I do understand the question, it's your example with A and B that didn't make much sense (The situation in country B is irrelevant to the question).

You do understand that people with multiple nationalities are a special case, right?

The question is about emigrants. If you have dual citizenship you're not an emigrant or an immigrant.

@evan

@DavidBHimself The situation in country B is indeed not relevant (resident, citizen), but it is relevant that they are not living in country A because they live in B.

In other words, should A’s not residing citizens be allowed to vote in A? And I’m saying, no.

@evan

@EdwinG So, you're basically saying that I and many other people should lose their rights to vote?
To lose my most basic right as a citizen because I happen to not live on a piece of soil, but on another one?

Quite a strange way to see democracy, indeed. (see where my "landowner" reference is coming from)

@evan

@EricLawton I think when you are talking from the perspective of the country they left, "immigrant" (in + migrant) is inaccurate.

Other terms we use: overseas citizens, citizens abroad.

I'm not actually across a sea from my birth country, unless you count the St. Lawrence Seaway, so I don't use that term often.

Abroad sounds like it could mean temporarily away, like on a long vacation .

@DavidBHimself I’m suggesting that you should be able to vote where you live.

@evan

@EdwinG Well, you're not in most cases.

@evan

@evan I agree with @EricLawton -- "expatriate" is an imperial term. I see no confusion of terminology in his comment, quite the opposite.

In the context of the poll, "expatriate" was used about emigrants, not immigrants, but the point stands. The clearest term, if a bit long and pedantic, might have been "citizens who are not residents".

@DavidBHimself I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this one.

And yes, I did lose my right to vote when I moved a couple of times, even as a resident+citizen of said location. That’s how our imperfect electoral system works.

@evan

@DavidBHimself I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this one.

And yes, I did lose my right to vote when I moved a couple of times, even as a resident+citizen of said location. That’s how our imperfect electoral system works.

@evan

@EdwinG Still, I'm curious about what country made you lose your voting rights without stripping you of your citizenship.

@EdwinG "our" You're doing some defaultism from wherever you are now?

@evan

@DavidBHimself It's at the subnational level in Québec, Canada.

At the municipal level, there's a deadline to register on the list of electors - most on it. I moved between that deadline and election day. You cannot register on election day.

Knowing what I know today, I insist that people check that they're registered by the deadline
There's space for improvement.

https://www.electionsquebec.qc.ca/en/vote/can-you-vote/#municipal

@DavidBHimself What determiner should I have used instead?

The first person singular (my) didn't seem appropriate either

@EdwinG So, this has nothing to do with changing countries.

@gabriele Wow, that's quite a gross generalization. So all emigrants ("expat" is also quite a gross term) are the same? What's next? All women are the same? All black people are the same?

@evan

@evan I would say no.

My rationale: Who am I as a resident and citizen of another country to decide what the residents of my other citizenship country wish/want. I don’t pay taxes there, I don’t participate in their active life, etc. For all intents and purposes, they are foreigners

Should citizens of your country that live elsewhere have the right to vote?

#EvanPoll #poll