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External Voting – a comparative overview

External Voting – a comparative overview. External Voting – Voting from abroad 213 countries and territories researched 91 countries and territories allow external voting (as of May 2006) Africa (21), Americas (13), Asia (16), Europe (36), Pacific (6)

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External Voting – a comparative overview

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  1. External Voting – a comparative overview • External Voting – Voting from abroad • 213 countries and territories researched • 91 countries and territories allow external voting (as of May 2006) • Africa (21), Americas (13), Asia (16), Europe (36), Pacific (6) • Positive trend, recently introduced in Mexico, Italy, Ghana...

  2. External Voting – a comparative overview • Provisions for external voting exist in 4 additional countries - not yet applied in practise (Angola, Bolivia, Greece, Nicaragua, Mozambique until recently). • Some additional countries and territories allow external voting for local elections only. • Exceptional practice or abolishment of external voting in i.e. Eritrea and East Timor (referendums related to independence in 1993 and 1999 respectively) and Cambodia 1993 where it was applied on a restrictive scale.

  3. External Voting – a comparative overview The Comparative Overview addresses three variables: • Who is entiltled to an external vote • Which elections external voting applies to • What are the voting methods for external voters

  4. External Voting – a comparative overview Who is entitled to an external vote? • 65 countries and allow external voting for all • 26 countries – external voting restricted – associated to the voter’s activity and/or length of stay abroad • 15 countries – external voting restricted – associated to the length of stay abroad • Other restrictions: intention to return (Philippines), geography, nationality)

  5. External Voting – a comparative overview To which type of election does external voting apply? • National elections only (51 countries) • National and local elections (11 countries) • National elections and referendums (19 countries) • National and local elections and referendums (9 countries) • Referendums only (1 country) National elections include presidential elections where applicable.

  6. External Voting – a comparative overview What are the voting methods for external voters? • Voting in person (41 countries) • Voting by mail (24 countries) • Voting by proxy (1 country) • Mixed (of the above) (25 countries) • E-voting (Estonia, Netherlands...)

  7. External Voting – a comparative overview • Electoral system, ballot paper design and boundary delimitation – design of external voting practises • Reserved seats in 7 countries (Croatia, France, Italy, Portugal, Cape verde, Mozambique, Colombia)

  8. External Voting – a comparative overview • A comparative overview • The history and politics of external voting • The legal framework and an overview of electoral legislation • Entitlement to vote as an external voter • The implementation of external voting • External voting and participation • Host country Issues • The political rights of refugees and displaced persons: enfranchisement and participation

  9. External Voting – a comparative overview • The political rights of migrant workers and external voting • Observation of external voting • E-voting and external voting Case studies: Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Cape Verde, Chad, Colombia, Cook Islands, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Honduras, Indonesia, Iraq, Marshall islands, Mexico, Mozambique, The Philippines, Portugal, Senegal, Switzerland, Zimbabwe.

  10. Why a handbook? To provide tools, options and knowledge to those involved in: • Implementing external voting • Introducing or discussing the introduction of external voting • Improving existing external voting practises • Debating external voting • Election assistance and election observation • Working on issues of political rights and migration • Academics, media and others…

  11. E-voting as external voting - pros • Convenience to external voters • External voters as the ideal test group for remote e-voting • Citizens abroad are well organized and capable bringing their needs onto the agenda. • Remote e-voting might save costs.

  12. E-voting as external voting - cons • Security concerns • Financial aspects • Equal treatment of all voters (external and internal)

  13. e-voting and external voting: France

  14. e-voting and external voting: Estonia

  15. e-voting and external voting: The Netherlands

  16. e-voting and external voting: New Zealand

  17. e-voting and external voting: Singapore

  18. e-voting and external voting: concluding remarks • Voters abroad as a focus group for those countries that are considering the introduction of remote e-voting in. • Sometimes urgency for introducing e-voting for external voters is bigger than for introducing it for “internal” voters. • Practical difficulties • No world-wide trend towards introducing remote e-voting for external voting; only a few countries.

  19. International IDEA • Intergovernmental organisation, 24 member states • Founded in 1995, financed through contributions • To promote sustainable democracy worldwide… • Democracy building and conflict management • Electoral processes • Political parties • Political equality and participation • 55 staff, 30 nationalities

  20. International IDEA Thank you! Maria Gratschew Electoral Processes Team Strömsborg 103 34 Stockholm Sweden Phone: +46 8 698 37 00 Fax: +46 8 20 24 22 m.gratschew@idea.int

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