The right to vote for foreigners in Europe: who can vote and where?

In France, the right to vote for foreigners in municipal elections is back on the table. On August 9, French MP Sacha Houli (Renaissance, ex-LREM) introduced a bill to allow foreigners to vote in municipal elections, regardless of the person’s country of origin. “This recognition is long overdue, he urged. However, we owe it to those who have often been long-time participants in the dynamics of our society.”

This issue, which divides the left and the right in France, has been constantly raised for years. In 2012, François Hollande, the former French president in the countryside, made a promise that he did not keep. Currently, a foreigner from a country that is not a member of the European Union (EU) cannot participate in any ballot in France, even if they have lived in France for decades.

InfoMigrants offers you an overview of what is being done in this field in other countries of the European Union.

Ireland In 1963, it was the first country in the European Union to give all residents the right to vote in municipal elections. Foreigners can also be elected in these ballots. Since 1992, this right to vote has not been conditioned on a minimum length of residence in the country.

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In the context of Ireland, Luxembourg Last July, a law was approved that greatly facilitates the voting rights of foreign residents: they can now vote in municipal elections as soon as they arrive in the country. Until then, the requirement to stay in the country for at least five years was abolished.

• Countries with this right are subject to conditions

In many EU countries, a non-EU foreign national can vote in local elections if they can justify having lived in the country for several years. The duration varies from two to five years depending on the state. For example, this in two years FinlandWithin three years Sweden And NorwayFrom four years Denmark Up to five years The NetherlandsInn BelgiumAnd Slovenia.

Germany and Italy And Poland These are on the same wavelength as France: these countries have none Foreigners from non-EU countries are not given the right to vote. It is one of eleven European countries that prohibits this practice, regardless of the length of stay of foreign nationals in the national territory.

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The Greece, she withdrew from the matter. In 2010, thanks to the decision of the Socialist government of Georges Papandreou, the country granted the right to vote to foreign nationals of countries outside the European Union in municipal elections. They must have a residence permit. However, four years later, the Constitutional Council declared the measure unconstitutional and annulled it.

• who give it to the citizens of their former colonies

L’Spain And Portugal A special system was adopted: they granted the right to vote to the citizens of certain countries, especially those of their former colonies (especially Argentina, Chile and Uruguay, on the one hand, and Brazil and Cape Verde, on the other). , on the one hand, to reciprocity on the part of these countries and on the other hand, to the minimum period of residence.

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about Czech Republic And Malta“They allowed themselves the possibility of concluding bilateral agreements to admit certain citizens there, which has not yet happened”, indicates All Europe websiteSpecializing in European subjects.