Comparative Policy Report on the Electoral Rights of Mobile EU Citizens: Policies, Findings, and Good Practices from the MobilEU Project

Increasing human mobility challenges us to reconsider the way democracy is conceived and
practiced. Inequalities in franchise rights and in levels of electoral participation persist across the European Union. Mobile EU citizens have the right to vote at local and European Parliament elections in their chosen EU Member State of residence, but they still cannot vote in national legislative elections in residence countries. Most of them also retain voting rights in the European Parliament and national legislative elections held in their Member States of nationality, although their enfranchisement for sub-national elections held in origin countries is much more limited across EU27. Some Member States still do not grant electoral rights to their non-resident citizens, while others impose rather strict requirements for exercising the right to vote from abroad. Franchise entitlements for non-resident nationals and non-national residents vary both within and across EU27 Member States.
The MOBILEU project investigates these variations by focusing on the voting rights of
mobile EU citizens in their respective EU Member States of residence and nationality. Detailed information on these electoral rights is much needed, especially given the significant gap in research and policy in relation to elections held in origin countries. The project develops policy recommendations aiming to identify best practice solutions that align with the preferences of mobile EU citizens, and which will be shared with the network of election administrators involved in the project, as well as with relevant policy, academic, and civil society stakeholders. This comparative report draws on the analysis of the data collected on electoral legislations across EU27 to identify patterns of convergence and divergence in the implementation of voting rights for mobile EU citizens. The information included in this report encompasses details on voting modalities, the legal requirements under which electoral rights can be exercised, and the diplomatic missions and electoral authorities that can guide mobile EU citizens in the process of exercising their electoral rights across the EU. The report focuses on the voting rights of mobile EU citizens in different types of elections (EP elections, national legislative elections, and local legislative elections) held in their EU countries of residence and nationality, by referring to the policies in place in January 2022. Based on this comparative analysis, this report also aims at formulating evidence-based policy recommendations on good practices for election administrators, policy actors, civil society organizations, academics, and other stakeholders in order to facilitate the engagement of mobile EU citizens in the political life of the EU and its Member States. In doing so, the report also draws on the results of different MOBILEU surveys aiming to examine Europeans’ attitudes towards the voting rights of mobile EU citizens.