Why can't EU citizens vote in regional elections?

Mar 23, 2011 · RiazorBlue · 5 replies · 4294 views

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Does anybody else think it strange that we cannot vote in regional elections? I know we can vote in council elections and in European elections if we choose, but why not in regionals?

Recently there was a campaign to raise awareness that citizens of many South American countries could vote in council elections for the firts time as Spain had signed reciprocal agreements with those countries. EU citizens have the right to vote in local elections in their place or residence irrespective of their country of birth. In the UK regional elections: the Scottish/Welsh/N.I. Assembies, London assembly etc, are regarded as local elections. Here we don't have reciprocality: Spanish citizens living in Scotland can vote in the Scottish Parliament elections whilst a Scot living in Barcelona cannot vite in Catalonian elections.

I asked the EU commission in Madrid about this and they said that it was a matter for Spain. I have raised this with the "defensor del pueblo" - the public services watchdog in Galicia aswell but so far have not received their verdict. Given that it is in these elections that policy decisions are made regarding healthcare, education, long term planning etc, I think that these are the most important elections. It seems wrong to me that I would have to give up my nationality to be able to have a say regarding my son's education (especially when almost 10% of the vote in the Galician regional elections comes from first, second or even third generation emigrants who have lived all their life outside of Spain).

Is this issue important to anybody else?

Mar 26, 2011 · Andrew Belles

I am an english by citizenship and my partner is norwegian. netheir of us have have any problems voting in the local elections.

Also under the treaty of Rome under article 22 states:

1. Every citizen of the Union residing in a Member State of which he is not a national shall have the right to vote and to stand as a candidate at municipal elections in the Member State in which he resides, under the same conditions as nationals of that State. This right shall be exercised subject to detailed arrangements adopted by the Council, acting unanimously in accordance with a special legislative procedure and after consulting the European Parliament; these arrangements may provide for derogations where warranted by problems specific to a Member State.

2. Without prejudice to Article 223(1) and to the provisions adopted for its implementation, every citizen of the Union residing in a Member State of which he is not a national shall have the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament in the Member State in which he resides, under the same conditions as nationals of that State. This right shall be exercised subject to detailed arrangements adopted by the Council, acting unanimously in accordance with a special legislative procedure and after consulting the European Parliament; these arrangements may provide for derogations where warranted by problems specific to a Member State.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2010:083:0047:0200:EN:PDF

Mar 29, 2011 · RiazorBlue

You are right, we have the right to vote in municipal elections and I religiously do so. The same in european elections. No doubt, as the constitution stands at the moment we do not have the right to vote in the autonomous regional elections, but personally, I think we should have that right. All I have to do is get the Galician parliament to change their constitution !!!

When you think about it though, there is logic in the argument: For the Spanish, right to vote in regional elections is decided on where you live, not on where you were born, so for example, a Galician who lives in Madrid cannot vote in the Galician elections, but a Madrile?o who lives in Galicia can. There is though, the anomoly of the Spaniard who emigrated. An emigrant, for the sake of it, who's last address in Spain was in Galicia but now lives in Argentina, can vote in the Galician elections, his son also. His grandson, again has the right to vote in Galician elections, even though he has no idea of, nor interest, in Galicia.

I mentioned the case of reciprocality in the municipal elections for South Americans, here, the Spanish government has agreed that citizens of countries that allow the vote in local elections to Spaniards will have a vote here. There is a case for reciprocality in the regional elections, in my opinion. In the UK, for example, Spanish citizens living in Scotland have a vote in the Scottish Parliamentary elections. Those in Wales and Northern Ireland, likewise in their Assembley elections. These are the equivalents to the autonomous regional elections here. My point, badly put, I imagine, is that in the UK at least, the regional elections - the Scottish/Welsh/NI , the London Assembley etc, are classed the same as municipal elections when concerning the right to vote (open to British, EU & British Commonwealth citizens registered as living in the region/municipality), here in Spain autonomous elections are not.

Apr 6, 2011 · Lionel Richard Westell

I took my case to the President of the E.U, in short they advised me that it was a local issue. A good time to bring the issue up with the Major Political Parties here.

Feb 8, 2012 · mdavidfrost

And why can't British citizens vote in the national elections in Spain? I haven't lived in the UK for more than 20 years, so I can't vote in national elections anywhere. Yet when I was living in the USA Britain claimed the right to tax my pensions, as I was considered a non-resident alien there because my wife worked for the local Spanish Consulate and we both had diplomatic visas.