Non-citizen suffrage
Non-citizen suffrage is the extension of the right to vote to non-citizens. This right varies widely by place in terms of which non-citizens are allowed to vote and in which elections, though there has been a trend over the last 30 years to enfranchise more non-citizens, especially in Europe.
Arguments for
Non-citizen suffrage can improve political participation. Democracies are widely believed to function better when more people vote so the wisdom of the crowd can help make more fully-informed choices. Examples in New York, Chicago and Maryland all have shown positive results after immigrants received the franchise in local elections, such as school boards.Universal suffrage means one person, one vote, so if immigrants can't travel to the country of their citizenship or don't have either non-resident citizen voting rights or non-citizen suffrage, the ethics and the legitimacy of the democratic process has been called into question. Non-citizen suffrage can help non-citizens to export the democratic best-practices to their home country.
Arguments against
Non-citizen suffrage creates dual transnational voting which violates political egalitarianism and "One man, one vote" slogan.Emigrants can vote in their home country by travelling or through non-resident citizen voting.
Campaign donations by non-citizens from foreign sources is criticized by some as foreign electoral intervention.
Non-citizen suffrage reduces the value of citizenship. A conflict of interest which decreases cultural assimilation or social integration similar to multiple citizenship is possible.
Autocratic countries can prevent the democratizing effects of democratic remittances by emigrants.
By region
David C. Earnest surveyed practice of voting rights for resident non-citizens, concluding that the practice is widespread and the details varied considerably from country to country. In another 2003 paper, Earnest compared voting rights for resident noncitizens in 25 democracies, grouping them into six categories as follows:- 0: No rights.
- 1: Rights granted only by subnational governments.
- 2: Local rights, discriminatory.
- 3: National rights, discriminatory.
- 4: Local rights, nondiscriminatory.
- 5: National rights, nondiscriminatory
Supranational groupings
A number of separate supranational groupings of countries exist, and membership in some of these groupings may involve multinational agreements and treaties in which member countries agree to some degree of reciprocity regarding voting rights. Some individual countries are members of more than one supranational groupings, and some supranational groupings of countries are members of other supranational groupings of countries.European Union (EU)
The 1992 Maastricht Treaty imposed reciprocity inside the European Union concerning voting rights in local elections; this already existed for the European elections. In several European states, the public debate on the right of foreigners to vote was therefore renewed, as some foreign residents had the right to vote while others, non-Europeans, did not. As a result of this debate, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Slovenia and Belgium extended the right to vote, in different manners, to all foreign residents.The European Parliament, the Council of Europe and the Baltic Sea States Conference have produced various recommendations in favor of the introduction of the right to vote and of eligibility to all foreign residents in local elections. The 1992 Convention on the Participation of Foreigners in Public Life at Local Level from the Council of Europe, is opened to signatures and ratifications. Then there is the Council Directive 94/80/EC from the 19th of December 1994 defining to which political organs other EU citizen can vote.
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, usually known as the Commonwealth and formerly as the British Commonwealth, is a voluntary association of 54 independent sovereign states, most of which are former colonies of the British Empire. A few Commonwealth countries, including the United Kingdom itself, allow Commonwealth citizens voting or eligibility rights at all levels, either with or without specific restrictions not applying to local citizens: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, New Zealand, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.Antigua and Barbuda
s may vote and are eligible for parliamentary elections, but "allegiance to a foreign State" is a criterion for ineligibility.Argentina
Though foreign residents cannot vote in national elections, they can vote in provinces which have legislation to allow foreigners to vote in provincial/municipal elections. To exercise this right it is a preliminary requirement to know the corresponding provincial legislation. Nevertheless, in all cases it is mandatory for the foreign resident to count with a National Identity Document and to be enrolled in a special register set up for that purpose.Article 61 of the Constitution of the city of Buenos Aires states that "Suffrage is free, equal, secret, universal, compulsory and not accumulative. The foreign residents enjoy this right, with the correlative obligations, on equal terms with Argentine citizens registered in this district, in the terms established by the law."
In 2012, there was a law proposal by the government to grant voting rights for all elections to legal foreign residents, as in Chile and Uruguay but with a residency requirement of 2 years. It was presented by Justicialist Party senators Aníbal Fernández and Elena Corregido. A similar proposal had been rejected by the National Congress in 1890, reportedly due to concerns for anarchist and socialist immigrants.
Australia
All British subjects who were enrolled to vote in Australia before 26 January 1984 retain voting rights at federal and state elections in Australia. As of that date, the right of other British subjects to enrol to vote was abolished. A right to vote has been grandfathered: a British subject who was enrolled to vote before 26 January 1984 can re-enrol at any time, even if his/her enrolment has lapsed subsequently for any reason. British subjects on the electoral roll, like all other people enrolled to vote in Australia, are subject to compulsory voting. The term "British subject" not only includes British citizens, but citizens of other countries in the Commonwealth of Nations resident in Australia, such as New Zealand.In most cases, local government electoral rolls in Australia are open to all adults, including non-citizens, who meet other criteria – such as residency requirements.
Before 26 January 1949, people born in Australia were known under Australian law as "British subjects", and there was no legal distinction between them and other British subjects. From 1949, anyone born in Australia was officially termed an Australian citizen, although British subjects retained voting rights in Australia.
Austria
In 2002, non-citizens were granted voting rights in state elections in Vienna, but the decision was overturned by the Constitutional Court in June 2004. EU nationals may vote and stand for office in local elections.Barbados
As of 1990, Commonwealth citizens may vote for parliamentary elections with a 3 years residency requirement.Belgium
European Union residents in Belgium were given the right to vote and to be candidates for the 1994 European Parliament election, then for the 2000 municipal elections. At first they only had the right to be elected as municipal councillors, not as members of the executive ; from the 2006 municipal elections they could access the function of alderman; they still cannot access the function of mayor, because it includes responsibility for the local police force. In accordance with EU regulations, EU residents are subject to the same residence conditions as Belgian nationals, i.e. residence in the commune at the closure date of the electoral roll.In 2004, voting rights in municipal elections were extended to non-European Union foreigners living in Belgium, with certain conditions attached. Non-EU foreigners must have been living in Belgium for at least five years before becoming entitled to vote. Any non-EU foreigner who wants to take advantage of the new legislation must also sign an oath of allegiance to the Belgian constitution, formally agree to respect the country's laws and sign the European Convention on Human Rights. Also, non-EU foreigners are not allowed to stand as candidates.
As voting is compulsory in Belgium, and all electors are automatically on the electoral rolls, foreign residents have to register voluntarily on the electoral roll, and only then are they subject to the obligation to vote.
| Election year | Potential EU voters | Registered EU voters | Potential non-EU voters | Registered non-EU voters |
| 2000 | 498,315 | 17.6% | - | - |
| 2006 | 529,878 | 20.9% | 108,607 | 15.7% |
| 2012 | 653,958 | 18.5% | 146,721 | 14% |
| 2018 | 748,267 | 17% | 194,593 | 15% |