It has become increasingly common for governments to allow their emigrant populations to vote in local or national elections. In 2007, 115 states and territories allowed citizens living abroad, whether temporarily or permanently, to participate in elections; today, nearly three-quarters of the world’s countries permit some sort of out-of-country voting.

As the share of democratic countries has been on an upward swing since the 1970s, the out-of-country vote (also known as the external or diaspora vote), has been heralded as essential to rising democracy. Still, in many countries the development has proven controversial: fears of fraud, foreign influence, or outsize influence from a country’s emigrant or diaspora population have been common across the globe, according to The Electoral Knowledge Network.

These fears have surfaced in Ireland, one of the few countries in Europe that does not permit external voting for citizens living abroad permanently. In 2013, the country’s constitutional convention recommended allowing the diaspora to vote, and the government agreed in 2017 to hold a referendum on the issue this year. However, that referendum was delayed last month due to concerns that it would “divert public attention away from Brexit,” according to the Irish Times.

While about two-thirds of Irish citizens supported extending the vote in a March 2019 poll, others oppose the diaspora vote over concerns that it would invite foreign—and especially British—influence in Ireland’s domestic politics. Moreover, Irish citizens living abroad are divided on whether the right to vote in Irish elections would benefit them; some fear the more conservative nature of the diaspora having an outsize role in shaping Irish politics. For example, an Irish Times survey respondent stated that “the U.S. diaspora is deeply rooted in the past. They don’t understand contemporary experiences with things like health care in Ireland, Brexit, the housing shortage, or the difficulties that Irish people have financing homes and businesses.”

Elsewhere in Europe, recently elected Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has made securing diaspora voting a priority. Currently, Greeks living abroad must return to Greece to vote in national elections. While the debate over whether expatriate Greeks should be allowed to vote in their place of residence has endured for many years, public opinion and most of the country’s political parties are in favor of such voting. In October, a bipartisan committee recommended that Greeks abroad be permitted to vote abroad, but only at consulates or other “official” venues. Most interestingly, the committee favored allowing diaspora Greeks to appear on the ballot. The committee’s recommendations will now be presented to Parliament for consideration.

As Greeks await the ratification of diaspora legislation and Irish citizens wait for Ireland’s referendum to be rescheduled, the prevalence of the diaspora vote in other countries offers proof of yet one more way in which governments are seeking to retain ties with their diasporas.

Best regards,

Alexandra Vranas-Carita

Editor, Migration Information Source