User:Droste1977

As of 2020 a total of 141countries grant expatriates the right to vote in elections in their countries of origin. There is considerable variation across countries in regard to voter eligibility, voting modalities, i.e. voting in person at diplomatic missions or other physical locations, by mail or online, which elections nonresident citizens may vote in, i.e. elections of the national legislature, executive elections, referendums, or sub-national elections, and how nonresident citizen voters are represented. The number of countries enfranchising nonresident citizens accelerated significantly in the 1990s. Social scientists have advanced a number of claims about the causes and consequences of this development and debated its normative implications or pros and cons of nonresident citizen voting.

Variations: Voter Eligibility, Voting Modalities, Types of Elections, and Forms of Representation

Some countries (such as France) grant their expatriate citizens unlimited voting rights, identical to those of citizens living in their home country. Other countries allow expatriate citizens to vote only for a certain number of years after leaving the country, after which they are no longer eligible to vote (e.g. 25 years for Germany, except if you can show that you are still affected by the political decisions in Germany). Other countries reserve the right vote solely to citizens living in that country, thereby stripping expatriate citizens of their voting rights once they leave their home country (such as Ireland, with extremely limited exceptions).

There is similar variation in how non-resident citizens can exercise their right to vote. Most commonly, non-resident voters have to cast their ballots at an embassy or consulate of their country. Some countries are even more restrictive, such as Timor-Leste which "limited in-person voting to only its Australian and Portugese missions in 2017." At the less restrictive end of the spectrum non-resident New Zealand voters my download their ballots and upload their completed ballots to the Electoral Commission's website or mail in or fax their ballots to the New Zealand Electoral Commission or a New Zealand diplomatic mission.

French non-resident citizen voters may cast ballots in elections for the European Parliament, French presidential elections, national referendums as well as elections to the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, and elections for members of the Assembly of French Citizens Resident Abroad who in turn elect 12 members of the French Senate. New Zealand non-resident citizen voters may cast their ballots in national as well as local elections.

Finally, some countries assimilate non-resident voters into existing constituencies for resident citizens whereas others have reserved special seats in their legislatures for non-resident citizen voters. The United States is an example of the first alternative. US citizens who live abroad may vote in the state where they have established voting residence, and their votes will count toward election results in that state. Italy, on the other hand, established special seats in the Italian Senate and the Chamber of Deputies to represent non-resident citizens.

Historical Development

According to a pioneering study by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance,

A polling station at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Helsinki

Postal voting package sent to an Indonesian voter in the United Kingdom for the 2019 Indonesian general election.