As a Kiwi I was able to vote last time from France by special declaration, But in order to vote next time I have to go back to NZ for a visit. I have to have been in NZ within 3 years each time. Not sure I will be able to afford that. For a kiwi to go home you almost need to take out a mortgage.
Yes I can say taxation without representation. I live in the District of Columbia. We have no voting rights in Congress. Conservatives say we do not need it as we have 435 Congressman representing us. Yeah right!!
I think it is mad that I can vote for an MP in Norwich when I have lived in France for 6 yrs as a permanent resident.
To many ex-pats can vote in the UK (whether they pay taxes or not).
People should be able to vote where they live rather than where they used to live.
If a French person lives in the UK what elections (UK and French) can they vote in?
Yes, the powers behind the front men . . . who are they? They're there no matter who gets in. We'll no doubt never know. Scary, ain't it?
ha ha ha ;-D
Ciro, isn't it ironic than when you write 'us' in capitals it comes out as US which is so often used instead of USA and describes the glove puppet status of the UK government in relation to Washington (a hand up the puppet's jacksie and the puppet itself does not speak but its words come from somewhere else...)?
Hi Celeste,
From the point of view of being discriminated against being able to vote, I see your point. Everyone should be able to if they want but in all honesty what is the point? Aren't they ALL the same? The politicians, I mean? No matter where? Same old spin, same old promises just to get them in and then they swiftly forget as they forge on with their own agendas. Put it to the people, have a referendum (re Blair, Iraq as just one example) and they conveniently put aside the fact that they're meant to be representing US, working for US. Yes, the argument is "someone has to run the country"!! True, but I sometimes wish that we could elect people who don't actually have any ambition, politically or otherwise. Who said "Power corrupts - absolute power corrupts absolutely".
People do seem to have this unshakeable belief and hope that maybe, just maybe, one of these megalomaniacs actually delivers all that's been put forward in their manifestos. "Gotta be in it to win it?" personally, I'd rather be out of it to flout it!! Good luck!!
go for nauturalisation Celeste, that way you'll be able to vote where it counts - here in France ;-)
Relishing in my newly bestowed nationality, I headed down to the polling booth to vote....only to find I'd brought the WRONG CARD with me; the one I had had previously for voting in local elections here...after some humming & ha-ing they called over the lady in charge , who said 'oh don't worry, we remember you from when you came for the 'prƩsidentielles' a few weeks ago"! So kind! Then the bloke manning the box dug his neighbour in the ribs & they both splurted out 'doo yew speek eenglish"followed by lots of giggling...well despite turning all my files upside down I cannot find this new card ( I reckon I must have thrown the new one out instead of the old one) so I don't think I can face everyone in there again for the second tour...
Got it in one Andrew, to the extent that not only do I appreciate my communal vote (the maire asked if I would stand next election 10 minutes ago because he has two of the present mob retiring and knows I did it in the UK) and also that I have the EU vote, we want the legislature and presidential ones because they are OUR government as residents, tax payers, etc, here. UK, don't live there, not useful for me. Even if UK comes out of the EU, I have rights of residence in Switzerland and Germany so no being sent back in my case. So, is anybody campaigning for us here was the question and careful reading of Celeste's is that she has neither French nor Irish votes.
yes Rodney, but, and I think I can speak for Brian as well here, we're not bothered about voting in the UK, we want to vote here where we live, work, pay our taxes etc. without necessarily having to go down the naturalisation route ;-)
I'm sorry Brian but I thought that Celeste also had a problem that she couldn't vote in common with all the Irish diaspora in the land of her birth, Ireland.
As expats living in France we can all vote in the local elections e.g. to influence if we can local issues that interest us or in the European elections at a regional level.
If European law stated that as tax-paying residents of France we could also vote at national level there would be no problem.
As the law stands we have more chance of convincing the British government to extend us full voting rights as British citizens in the UK than to convince France that it should extend the national franchise to us "immigrants"!
Celeste's original question focussed on us voting here. We live here, not in our countries of birth and for some, perhaps many of us, having the right to vote here is far more interesting. Is 'Votes for expat brits' doing anything about that?
I am very much involved with Votes for Expat Brits which can be accessed via www.votes-for-expat-brits.com I would suggest to everybody that you have a look at our website and see what we wish to acheive for expat Brits now living abroad especially Harry Shindler who lives in Rome, we are a very pro active group of expats now living in France and other expats living abroad regarding voting rights. At present the Electoral Registration and Adminstration Bill, which had itĀ“s second reading in the House on 23.05.2012 which effects all of us and fortunately there were two interventions on our behalf, and we now await for the date of when the Bill does go to the Committee stage which is the full House. If you would like regular updates please contact me at graham.richards@orange.fr and I will put you on our list.
I suggest you have a look at Noreen Bowden's account on Twitter (@NoreenBowden) as she's a great campaigner for the right to vote for the Irish disapora. This other link will give you some examples of how some other countries grant overseas voting rights. http://votes-for-expat-brits.com/Other-countries-do-it.php
We Brits have great sympathy as we are a bit better off in losing the right to vote after 15 years but are still campaigning for the removal of this limitation on our basic rights.
Rodney Harper
Administrator
Go to the Mairie and register then you can vote in local elections and European Parliament elections; All the information is on www.angloinfo.com
That would make sense, but set a minimum length of residency, say 1 year, to be eligible to vote. I have lived in France now almost as many years as I ever lived in the UK, but I still have no say in how France is run, even though I pay french taxes and am bound by all the same laws as french citizens.
I too would like to see a change. Like Celeste, I'm Irish but there are no postal votes, thereby disenfranchising me. However, I don't think you should be able to vote in both countries - it seems to me that the fairest method would be to give you a vote in the country in which you pay your taxes (talking about general elections here - I am aware that we can vote in local & EU elections).
Not sure how that would work for pensioners though.
May be an individual state requirement or if you are voting in primary election. Been voting outside US for a dozen years and never asked to claim party affiliation (Virginia in case you're interested).
In light of these changes, the Department of State recommends that all U.S. voters residing abroad request absentee ballots from their local election officials at the start of each calendar year, and whenever there is a change of address, change of e-mail address, or change of name, by completing and sending in a Federal Post Card Application (FPCA). To locate information on your specific stateās requirements, and to obtain an on-line version of the FPCA, please visit www.fvap.gov. Voters may also pick up a hard copy of the FPCA from any U.S. embassy or consulate. FPCAs may be mailed to your local voting officials in the United States via international mail or from any U.S. embassy or consulate. Many states allow U.S. citizens overseas to submit the FPCA by e-mail or fax.