Should citizens of your country that live elsewhere have the right to vote?
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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.
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@DavidBHimself What determiner should I have used instead?
The first person singular (my) didn't seem appropriate either
@EdwinG "my" works. "our" implies that either you and I have the same (we don't) or that the whole world has the same (definitely not). Naming the country is probably the best option here.
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@EdwinG So, this has nothing to do with changing countries.
@DavidBHimself Yeah, that specifically wasn't countries... I still couldn't vote for the people that would represent me.
It's my understanding that it used to be the case that Canadians would lose their national voting rights if they live abroad for over 5 years:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170719195520/http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=reg/etr&document=index&lang=eThat is no longer the case:
https://elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=reg/etr&document=index&lang=e#etr3 -
@DavidBHimself Yes, I agree that "expat" is a cringe term, especially because it's used to differentiate "white" emigrants from regular emigrants
But I'm not generalizing; I'm just observing that the vast majority of emigrants from my country disproportionately favor centrist and center-right parties, and I don't like that. No, I don't believe in democracy.
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@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
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@evan No, but countries should be abolished anyways so this shouldn't matter.
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@evan given it's nigh on impossible to renounce US citizenship and stop paying taxes.
The argument is that the rich would flee the country.
To which I ask, for where?
The Emirates? Where citizenship is bought and can be removed at the whim of a royal? To China, where the Politburo understands you keep the rich on the shortest of leashes? To the UK, who opened their doors to Russian gangsters who shiv, poison, and defenestrate?
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@evan no, but all people resident in an area should be able to vote (which is almost true in Scotland except for prisoners and Westminster elections)
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@evan I’m a Brazilian immigrant* and not only we can but we have to - vote is mandatory in Brazil. I only need to vote in presidential elections though.
* expat is a problematic word
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@evan though only in national elections, not local ones.
