Challenges Faced by EU Expatriate Voters
Expatriate EU citizens living in different countries encounter various challenges when it comes to exercising their voting rights in both local and national elections. Peter, Mal, Victor, Danielle, Julie, and Anne share their experiences of being unable to participate in elections due to restrictive citizenship and residency requirements. They raise concerns about the lack of representation and the need for electoral reform to allow them to vote based on their current residence and contributions to their communities.
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VOTERS WITHOUT BORDERS ECI PEOPLE TESTIMONIES
PETER H. a Danish citizen living in Austria In Austria one has to be an Austrian citizen to vote at provincial level. However, Vienna is both a city and a province, and therefore I cannot vote in either municipal or provincial elections. In addition, Denmark does not allow non-resident citizens to vote for local elections. As a result, I am not eligible to vote anywhere.
Mal Murphy M. an Irish citizen living in Spain When I initially registered I was told that I would be on the register within a month. However, I received news that since I was not Spanish, it would take a year and not a month for a non-Spaniard to be put on the register. I was thus not able to vote in that year s local elections. Also, I had a problem with voting in regional elections in Ireland as there is no postal voting system for Irish citizens abroad.
Victor B. Belgian citizen living in Spain One should be able to vote in the country where you live, work and pay taxes, as this is where a resident s interest, time and money is being invested as a member of the community. I would rather vote in Spain than in Belgium (where I am still legally obliged to vote) as I am not up to date with Belgian politics.
Danielle G. a Dutch citizen living in Spain I have been residing in Spain for 18 years, and I have paid taxes there ever since. I own a house and run a business, however I do not have any say in what my taxes are spent on. I have no possessions in The Netherlands, yet I am allowed to vote there. So yes, it is about time something is changed.
Julie P. a French citizen living in Luxembourg I did not vote in the local French elections since I do not feel like their outcome would affect me, and I am not aware of local issues there. I am aware that I can vote in local elections in Luxembourg, but not in national elections where I would like my voice to be heard.
Anne C. A Danish citizen living in Spain As I was not sent by a Danish company nor am I a government official, I do not have the right to vote in elections held in Denmark. I understand the policy of my country and do not intend on moving back so it makes sense to me that I should not have a say in the politics there. I wish that EU citizens would be able to vote in Spain, when they live there permanently, work and pay their taxes, without having to acquire Spanish citizenship.
Ralph S. A British citizen living in Spain I have been in Spain for over 15 years and so have lost the right to vote in the UK elections. In addition, as a non-Spanish citizen I cannot vote in National and Comunidad elections in Spain. I have exhausted all domestic remedies (i.e. every possible avenue in Spain to access the right to vote). I brought a case to the Spanish Supreme Court which I lost as the Spanish Constitution states that only citizens have the right to vote in those elections. I have stated that my point wasn t really to get at the Spanish, but to get at the UK government. I then lodged a case with the European Court of Human Rights. The ECHR has told me that the case is in the queue and not to contact them, as they will contact me when there is an update. There is a 5 year wait to have an ECHR case heard, and my case was submitted 3-4 years ago.
Pasquale L. an Italian citizen living in France For local elections I voted in France. I had to compile an online form and send some documents for registering. I do not know anything about how this process worked as I did not find any instructions on the web.
Kevin W. a Belgian citizen living in Sweden as a full tax resident Even though I may not stay there long-term, I think that I should be able to influence local government for the time I remain, since what they decide can have a large impact on me. The information hasn t been clearly available to me as to what my rights are in terms of voting locally and what the procedure is.
Katarzyna H. a Polish citizen living in France I tried to register to vote in Toulouse last year, sending all of the necessary documents through the government website. I received a reply from my local City Hall expressing that proof of my address was not acknowledged. No explanation was provided for this. They also stated that I could not re- apply during the following two weeks, which in fact prevented me from being able to vote in the first tour of elections. Alas, despite my knowledge of the French language and the procedures, I was prevented from registering to vote.
Laura C. an Italian citizen living in Ireland I faced many difficulties in Ireland, especially in relation with the office hours when I could go and register. The hours that the office was open made it so that I could not vote in the most recent elections. Further, the previous year I could not vote because the register for Italians abroad was very slow in updating addresses when a citizen moves to live abroad. In fact, it turned out the my voting papers physically were sent to my old address in France my previous country of residence.
Daniela N. a Slovakian citizen living in the Netherlands I was unable to vote for Slovak candidates in recent European elections due to a lack of information and miscommunication from embassy officials. Public authorities in the Netherlands were unhelpful! Despite voting by post in Slovak national elections, many postal votes for these elections got lost, miscounted or the official envelope was delivered too late.
Jonathan J. I was a candidate for a local election in Belgium two years ago. I went door to door to speak about a small party I joined at the time. As Brussels is at the heart of the EU, I expected the mobile European citizens to be exercising their right to vote in local elections. I was surprised to see that most of the people I talked to were actually not registered and did not really want to register. As a convinced European I thought this was a real shame because I believed that these citizens could bring change to local issues. I wrote to our ECI campaign to express that more incentives should exist for mobile European citizens to vote in their country of residence for local elections.
Alexandra C.N. an Italian citizen living in Germany I was born and raised in Germany; I have been paying my taxes here and I have spent my whole life here. I have the same duties as a German citizen, but not the same rights. I have never been able to vote in national elections because I am an Italian citizen. You are what you are . It s a quite humiliating feeling. It's time for this to change! Vote without Borders!
Tobias A. a Danish citizen living in Estonia When I migrated to Estonia in 2011 I entirely lost my right to vote. Firstly, because in Estonia only Estonian citizens can vote in national elections. Secondly, because in Denmark you can vote only if you live in the country and it doesn t even matter whether you still pay taxes to the Danish Government or not. Therefore I have not voted since 2011!
Monique Z. a Dutch citizen living in Spain I have lived and worked in Spain since 1985, paying taxes and owning property. Still, I am only allowed to vote in EU and municipal elections. What happens on national political level in Spain concerns me very much and I feel that it is completely unfair that after 35 years living in Spain I cannot have a say in things that concern my life directly. Let s see if we can make a change all together .
William A. a Danish citizen living in Austria I have faced problems when voting in local and regional elections. Due to Vienna being both a city and a province I could not vote. Again, Denmark does not allow citizens not living in Denmark to vote in elections, thus I was stripped of the right to vote in both countries.
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