Voting Rights
Hi everyone!
I have a few questions for the members of this community that are more settled and integrated in another country (rather than living abroad temporarily).
Do you have any right to vote? In your country of citizenship, or in your country of residency? Full or partial?
For those who don't have voting right or only a partial one (which is a very common situation, I think), is it a problem for you? Would you like to be able to vote fully in the country you're from, or in the country you live in now? Would you consider applying for citizenship in your new country in order to be able to vote? (or have you already done so?)
Personally I'm French, currently living in Canada for a few months but my home is in the UK. I can vote in British local and European elections (although last time they messed up with my papers and I wasn't able to vote in the European elections). It's better than nothing, but compared to general elections, the local ones don't decide much at all. If I register with the French Consulate I can vote in French Presidential elections and referendums. I'll register when I get back to the UK, the reason I haven't registered so far is that I've been told they keep passports for 4 months (except if you can get to London on a weekday), and since I found out I haven't managed to find a 4-month period where I wouldn't need my passport, or the chance to take days off to go to London. (Some of my French friends in the UK have registered but never got their papers for the last French referendum, so the right to vote isn't even a certainty.)
I don't have any right to vote in parliamentary elections either in France or the UK, and in both countries that's where the power is. I don't live in France anymore so I understand that I'm not allowed to vote there, but in the UK I'm as much a part of society as the next person, I pay as much taxes as everyone, so why can't I have a say in how the country is run and how my taxes are spent?
I have a few questions for the members of this community that are more settled and integrated in another country (rather than living abroad temporarily).
Do you have any right to vote? In your country of citizenship, or in your country of residency? Full or partial?
For those who don't have voting right or only a partial one (which is a very common situation, I think), is it a problem for you? Would you like to be able to vote fully in the country you're from, or in the country you live in now? Would you consider applying for citizenship in your new country in order to be able to vote? (or have you already done so?)
Personally I'm French, currently living in Canada for a few months but my home is in the UK. I can vote in British local and European elections (although last time they messed up with my papers and I wasn't able to vote in the European elections). It's better than nothing, but compared to general elections, the local ones don't decide much at all. If I register with the French Consulate I can vote in French Presidential elections and referendums. I'll register when I get back to the UK, the reason I haven't registered so far is that I've been told they keep passports for 4 months (except if you can get to London on a weekday), and since I found out I haven't managed to find a 4-month period where I wouldn't need my passport, or the chance to take days off to go to London. (Some of my French friends in the UK have registered but never got their papers for the last French referendum, so the right to vote isn't even a certainty.)
I don't have any right to vote in parliamentary elections either in France or the UK, and in both countries that's where the power is. I don't live in France anymore so I understand that I'm not allowed to vote there, but in the UK I'm as much a part of society as the next person, I pay as much taxes as everyone, so why can't I have a say in how the country is run and how my taxes are spent?