MobileCIT Question 2
“Should mobile EU citizens be allowed to vote in national elections in their country of residence?”
Please give your opinion – should mobile EU citizens be allowed to vote in national elections in their country of residence within the EU?
Vote here: https://open2vote.eu/mobile-cit/bills/2 (MobileCIT question Nr. 2.)
Background
The freedom of movement is a fundamental EU right and EU citizenship is laid down in the EU Treaties.In this light, EU citizens can vote in European elections and in municipal elections in their country of residence. However, mobile EU citizens cannot vote in the national elections of the country where they reside, unless they first acquire the citizenship of that country. In several member states, they also lose their right to vote in national elections of their country of origin, when they have lived abroad for too long; for those member states where voting from abroad is allowed, it is often cumbersome and complex.(1)
Pro
The limitation or even loss of democratic participation rights due to the exercise of free movement rights is contrary to the spirit of EU citizenship.(2) Granting mobile EU citizens the right to vote in national elections would give full meaning to European citizenship and the principle of equality for all Europeans. An EU national within the EU is not a foreigner and must not be treated as such.(3)
Against
Some commentators assert that the right to vote should be linked to citizenship only, especially in national elections.(4) Others suggest that it is more urgent to improve the current situation regarding participation in municipal and European elections, and prudent to limit the demand for new rights for Europeans to regional elections.(5)
The collected responses will be used by MobileCIT project partners to lobby for the resolution of the raised issues in the institutions of the European Union and Council of Europe.
We will compile the outcome of the voting by February 2024 and inform you about the result!
The article is posted in collaboration with MobileCIT.
Sources
(1) https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/22754
(2) https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/22754
(3) https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/22754
(4) https://www.jstor.org/stable/764684
(5) https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/22754