Non-citizen suffrage

As a result of this debate, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Slovenia and Belgium extended the right to vote, in different manners, to all foreign residents (which was already the case in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Netherlands).

The European Parliament, the Council of Europe and the Baltic Sea States Conference[6] have produced various recommendations in favor of the introduction of the right to vote and of eligibility to all foreign residents in local elections.

Nevertheless, in all cases it is mandatory for the foreign resident to count with a National Identity Document (DNI) and to be enrolled in a special register set up for that purpose.

[16][non-primary source needed] 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.

[16][non-primary source needed] (EU member) 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.

Commonwealth citizens who are domiciled or have resided in the country for at least one year immediately before polling day are qualified as electors, but not for eligibility to the House of Representatives, which requires Belize citizenship.

Practically, the Portuguese citizen regularly residing in Brazil and wishing to enjoy the "Equality Status" (Estatuto de Igualdade) without losing his original citizenship has to apply to the Ministry of Justice.

[33][non-primary source needed] For the 1995 New Brunswick provincial elections, a person qualified to vote had to be a Canadian citizen or a British subject who was resident in the province prior to January 1, 1979.

[40] British subjects (other than Canadian citizens) are entitled to vote if they were qualified electors at the time of the Saskatchewan provincial general election held on June 23, 1971.

36/V/97 was promulgated on August 25, 1997 regulating the "Statute of Lusophone Citizen", concerning nationals from any country member of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (article 2), stating in its article 3 that "The lusophone citizen with residence in Cape Verde is recognized the active and passive electoral capacity for municipal elections, under conditions of the law.

[50] (EU member) In December 2001, voting rights in local elections were approved for "any natural person who has reached the age of 18, is a citizen of a foreign country and has permanent residence registered in the municipality, if an international treaty by which the Czech Republic is bound and which has been promulgated so stipulates.

(EU member) Voting and eligibility rights were granted to Nordic Passport Union country citizens with a 3 years residence condition for municipal and county elections in 1977.

[55] (EU member) Voting and eligibility rights were granted to Nordic Passport Union country citizens without residence condition for municipal elections in 1981.

In the late 1990s-early 2000s, some symbolic local referendums on the subject were organized either under the auspices of the Ligue des droits de l'homme or of the municipal authorities, one of them in Saint-Denis, at the initiative of the Communist Party mayor.

Both were struck down as unconstitutional by the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany on October 31, 1990 (Ruling 83, 37), which interpreted article 28 of the Basic Law to mean only German citizen residents in the territory of that administrative unit, when it stated that "the people" must be represented by election in districts and municipalities.

[65] In 1998, the coalition government between the social-democrats and the Greens for the first Schröder cabinet including voting rights for all residents at the municipal and district level,[66] but the opposition led a campaign for the February 7, 1999 regional elections in the state of Hesse against both the planned reform of the German nationality law and prospective noncitizen voting rights and won these elections.

[70] Voting is a relatively recent right in Hong Kong, initiated only towards the end of the British colonial period (1842–1997) and enlarged[citation needed] somewhat after handover.

[17] Voting and eligibility rights were granted to Nordic Passport Union country citizens with a 3 years residence condition for municipal elections in 1986.

When the first municipal elections held there took place on 30 October 2018, they were the target of a boycott campaign supported e.g. by the local Druze High Religious Council.

(EU member) In 2003, local voting rights were granted, with no nationality restrictions, to all foreigners who have been resident in Luxembourg for at least 5 years on the date on which electoral registration closes (around 3 months before the election itself).

[97][98][99] (EU and CN member) Since 1993, United Kingdom residents in Malta enjoy the same voting and eligibility rights as Maltese citizens at the local and regional council elections.

[55] Commonwealth citizens may vote and are eligible for parliamentary elections, with a condition of residence in Mauritius for not less than two years or domiciled in the country on a prescribed date (also compulsory for Mauritius citizens), but "allegiance to a State outside the Commonwealth" is a criterion for ineligibility and "ability to speak and read English with a degree of proficiency sufficient to allow for taking an active part in Assembly proceedings" is a condition of eligibility.

[100] On 17 December 2008, after a Spanish-Moroccan summit, the Moroccan Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi declared that his government was "studying" the possibility to grant voting rights for municipal elections to foreign residents in Morocco.

[105] Voting and eligibility rights were granted to Nordic Passport Union country citizens with a 3 years' residence condition for municipal and county elections in 1978.

Up to 1996, article 6 of the 1993 South African Constitution stated that "Every person who is- (a)(i) a South African citizen; or (ii) not such a citizen but who in terms of an Act of Parliament has been accorded the right to exercise the franchise; (b) of or over the age of 18 years; and (c) not subject to any disqualifications as may be prescribed by law, shall be entitled to vote in elections of the National Assembly, a provincial legislature or a local government and in referenda or plebiscites contemplated in this Constitution, in accordance with and subject to the laws regulating such elections, referenda and plebiscites".

[127][128] There is an ongoing debate in Spain about either ratifying existing bilateral treaties or changing the constitution in order to grant all residents voting rights without reciprocity, but some Catalan parties are opposed to it.

Because Switzerland is a federal state with three different levels – the Confederation, the 26 cantons and their local communes – non-citizen voting rights vary greatly depending on the individual entity.

Five cantons have already recognized the right of foreigners to vote (Neuchâtel, Jura, Vaud in 2003, Fribourg in 2004, Geneva in 2005), plus three, Appenzell Ausserrhoden (1995), Graubünden (2003) and Basel-Stadt (2005) which accord to each municipality the authority to decide on the subject.

[3][17] In Venezuela, the right to vote in municipal, parish (county), and state elections extends to foreigners over the age of eighteen who have ten years’ residency or more in the country.

Examples in New York, Chicago and Maryland all have shown positive results after immigrants received the franchise in local elections, such as school boards.