Should citizens of your country that live elsewhere have the right to vote?
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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"@EricLawton "emigrants" is also a good term.
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@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 .
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@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
@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)
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@DavidBHimself @evan I simply don't like what expats tend to vote for.
@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?
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@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)
@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)?
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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.
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@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)?
@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.
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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.
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@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.
@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.
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@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.
@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)
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@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)
@DavidBHimself I’m suggesting that you should be able to vote where you live.
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@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 .
@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".
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@DavidBHimself I’m suggesting that you should be able to vote where you live.
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@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.
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@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".
@clacke @EricLawton you should put that in your poll when you write it!
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@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.
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@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.
@EdwinG Still, I'm curious about what country made you lose your voting rights without stripping you of your citizenship.
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@EdwinG Still, I'm curious about what country made you lose your voting rights without stripping you of your citizenship.
@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
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@DavidBHimself What determiner should I have used instead?
The first person singular (my) didn't seem appropriate either
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@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
@EdwinG So, this has nothing to do with changing countries.
