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...

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.

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

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)

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.

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...)

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)

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

External Voting – a comparative overview

The political rights of migrant workers and external votingObservation of external votingE-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.

Why a handbook?

To provide tools, options and knowledge to those involved in:Implementing external votingIntroducing or discussing the introduction of external votingImproving existing external voting practisesDebating external votingElection assistance and election observationWorking on issues of political rights and migration Academics, media and others…

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.

E-voting as external voting - cons

Security concerns

Financial aspects

Equal treatment of all voters (external and internal)

e-voting and external voting: France

e-voting and external voting: Estonia

e-voting and external voting: The Netherlands

e-voting and external voting: New Zealand

e-voting and external voting: Singapore

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.

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

International IDEA

Thank you!Maria GratschewElectoral Processes TeamStrömsborg103 34 StockholmSwedenPhone: +46 8 698 37 00Fax: +46 8 20 24 22m.gratschew@idea.int