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

@fdrc_ff @evan Yes, some people are. They're making me angry right now.

@alisonw @evan Because voting is either a right or a duty, not a privilege. Because citizenship is a thing.

@evan From some answers, I see a lot of people have the good old landowner (male and white too?) mentality when it comes to voting rights. You would expect people on the Fediverse to understand what democracy and citizenship are a little better.

@DavidBHimself @evan I simply don't like what expats tend to vote for.

@evan

If they've established themselves elsewhere—job, home—no.

Conversely, unlike some countries, emigrants shouldn't have to pay taxes on income not earned in their former country.

They regain the right on return.

And for the same reason, immigrants¹ who have established themselves somewhere—job, home,… —should be allowed to vote after at most 5 years.

Disclosure: I emigrated from England and never voted there since.
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1. Funny how it's mostly white people who are called "expats", people of colour are "immigrants"

@DavidBHimself That is not my point ‍️

What I’m saying… who am I to impose my political preferences as a citizen of country A to people in country B that I don’t live with and don’t know their current needs‽

Let’s say… the hypothetical where I live, we decide to that mastering multiple languages (A and B) is a requirement to get your secondary education diploma. But in country B, such a suggestion would be seen as an attack against said country.

It’s just hard to find non-tax examples

@evan

@EricLawton "emigrants" is also a good term.

@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 .

@EdwinG
And yet, you did mention taxes. Something that would never cross my mind when talking about voting.

Also, you've never lived in another country, have you?

Who are you to impose your political preference? You are a citizen of your own country, just like every other citizen of your own country "impose" their political preference when it's election time.

(and sorry, I don't understand your countries A and B example, it's not about country A and B, it's about country A only)

@evan

@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

@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

@malte Citizenship determining national voting privilege has issues, as you bring up. I think those issues should be addressed by correcting citizenship rules, rather than allowing residents to vote in national elections.

@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

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

@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".

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

@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