Votes for foreigners in municipal elections

Folk who weren’t/aren’t europeans have never had that right and it is that “right to vote” which has been discussed since 1981 (Mitterand I think it was)

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Ah well, you are entitled to your opinion.
However, from experience, I can say that French folk make up their own minds…

For many years, until Brexit, our local council was made up of 14 French and 1 Brit.
At the Polls, always at least 2 Lists of 15 names were available for folk to choose from but only 1 British name was offered…

and, as the voting population in those days was around 397+ French/15 Brits, it’s clear that French folk were happy to have a Brit helping with local affairs…

Our neighbours and friends were aghast to learn that we Brits are disenfranchised

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According to Insee, there are some 4.5m foreign born individuals resident in France, excluding those that have obtained French citizenship. Insee also reports that there are some 330,000 EU citizens registered to vote in France. Even if some of the 4.1m balance are children, and not of voting age, that still leaves several million who cannot vote here.

as we all know, numbers can be bandied here, there and everywhere…

Mustn’t overlook the fact that not everyone who has the right to vote… actually gets themselves on the electoral roll…
so the “missing” figures are not necessarily those who “cannot vote here” but will include those who choose not to vote here…

It’s the principle that is important… the right for a Permanent Resident to vote in local elections… (after that, it’s up to the PResident to make his/her own decision)

A change to the Constitution would not be easy, but not necessarily impossible.
However, as it’s not got anywhere… through past debates… I’m not holding my breath this time around…

So if you have a local community, paying local taxes and very much affected by the result of local elections …

Your logic then would surely be that they are entitled to a vote in local matters.

I’m in agreement with Cat - denying representation at community level to any group within that community based on the notion that they somehow don’t belong is anti-democratic at best, and it is hard to not see it as racist when you start saying the reason they shouldn’t have representation is that they are immigrants.

You can decide whether to engage in local elections - that is your choice, but there is a huge difference between exercising that choice voluntarily and having it forced upon you.

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I second that.

image

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Absolutely, and I never objected to incomers from abroad or elsewhere but who were comitted to my local area in England, voting in it. I wouldn’t call it racist to have the opposite opinion though.

@Stella

Folk who weren’t/aren’t europeans have never had that right and it is that “right to vote” which has been discussed since 1981 (Mitterand I think it was).

I see what you meant now, I misunderstood.

I’m not holding my breath this time around…

Neither am I. :neutral_face:

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One thing which I discovered years ago… only a French National can become Maire or adjoints … so for those who fear too much “undesirable foreign-influence”… you can stay calm… the Maire has to be French and he/she has the final word… supported by his faithful French deputies. :+1: :wink: :wink:

Yes, and when you say French national, it does include those foreigners who have become French. There has been at least one English immigrant Maire in France that has come to my knowledge, and possibly more.

French National = someone with French Nationality… gained by whatever means…
and is totally different from Resident in France/French Resident…although folk can and do get confused… let’s just think of it… French National is someone who has a French Passport…

thus any immigrant from whatever country… can be elected Maire… if he/she has gained French Nationality… !!! hurrah…

exactly… including members of the French Foreign Legion who fight (and sometimes die) for France… are they not entitled @Robert_Hodge Bad call in my view from you on this occasion from both the French and British perspectives you have addressed.

1,
As an immigrant in france ,you have chosen to live here and by consequence choose to live by the rules as is, whether good or bad.
2
Paying tax is not an option anywhere in the western world ,but doesn’t entitle you to have everything given on a plate.
3
When the opportunity was there to vote in municipal and european elections very very few took that opportunity, that opportunity has been lost now you want to vote!
4
At what point would the right to vote locally arrive ?
5,
If you want full voting rights become a citizen,yes it takes a long time but thoses are the rules .
6
If you don’t like the rules you can always leave ,because you chose to live here

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@Flocreen
please clarify, at whom are you aiming your post…??

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Sorry, I think this is quite simple.

If you live here on a regulated permanent basis, and pay taxes, you should have the right to vote in the municipals.

I am not a French citizen, so do not expect to be allowed to vote in nationals

I am not a member of the EU, unfortunately, so have no rights to vote in the EU elections

Boston Tea Party moment coming up.

Andy

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et toi? what is your status? (just so we are clear from which standpoint you are coming from)

I am an immigrant and I did accept the rules when I came here to live and I did understand that I had the right to stand for the local council. I didn’t do that, mainly because my work took me away from the home village so frequently. But I did involve myself in village life such as the Comite des Fetes for example.

I lost that right when a vote was taken in my country of birth which had a disastrous effect on my life and in which I was denied the right to an effective opinion.

I was told, in the days when such things were handled locally, that I was an ideal candidate for nationality and took and passed the language test even though my age exempted me from it at the time. Chasing more than 100 year old documents was deemed by me too onerous and I decided to remain as I am.

Here in France I have great support healthwise for me and my wife but, apart from the fact that I wouldn’t want to live elsewhere than the EU, financially it would be impossible to move back, so to say ‘you can aways leave’ is not true.

It is also not true your sweeping generalisation about not bothering to vote and only complaining once lost. In my case since the age of 21 I have never missed a vote despite often being on the other side of the world. I have always valued that right very highly and was bitterly disappointed to be disenfranchised here by those who fell for the lies that they were fed. I not only always voted here, I also was there with most of the rest of the village it seems, eager to see and know the count of the results.

So please stop banging on in such a general, uninformed and insulting manner.

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Funnily enough, it’s been French neighbours and French friends further afield, who have been very vocal about OH and I not being able to vote etc since Brexit…
They consider it disgraceful… Permanent Residents not able to vote locally!! shock-horror!! (presumably as folk considered since 1981… just not enough folk…)

I’ve been talking about rules-are-rules and they are taking quite a different attitude…
Seems many of them had no idea about the “fine-tuning” of who could and who couldn’t put that cross in the little box… and what Brexit has given us Brits in France, as a parting gift…
EDIT I am not advocating special rules for Brits…
But I am interested to see that “no-discrimination, votes for all” is being considered (yet again) by some French Govt people… and is supported by some French folk… :+1: :+1: :crossed_fingers:

Bravo! what the voice of reason has just said :+1:

@Flocreen take note…

banging on in an uninformed manner .
It seems to me that the uninformed are those who think they are entitled to everything.

As to my status try reading some of my back posts.

Please note the operative word is chosen