To vote or not to vote

Would you have voting rights in another country? There are local elections in some parts of the UK on 1 May but can foreigners who live in the UK vote in them?

Democracy is an important part of public life and expats may want to be part of deciding who makes the laws they will live under. ‘No taxation without representation’ as our American friends demanded over 200 years ago. Unfortunately, in reality, in most cases you will be required to pay taxes to the country you live in when you live abroad, however, this doesn’t come with automatic voting, or not in all elections, and you may not be allowed to stand for election either.

To say the least, it’s complicated. The easiest (but least satisfying) situation is when countries do not allow voting by non-citizens in any of their elections. No country seems to allow foreigners to vote in all of their elections, which is probably fair enough. Some allow only citizens to vote in parliamentary elections, however, non-citizens can register to vote in local elections, referendums or municipal elections. If non-citizens can vote in local elections, this may only apply to some parts or districts of the country. This right may also be pegged to having had residency in the country for a certain period of time and other conditions, such as age, no criminal record and not being a dual citizen. If the country has compulsory voting, this will apply to eligible foreigners too. In those countries, being eligible to vote often (but not always) means you are also allowed to stand as a candidate.

Big clubs of nations often grant each other’s citizens voting rights: In countries that are members of the Commonwealth, citizens of other Commonwealth countries may also vote, sometimes connected with the aforementioned conditions. Most of these countries are former British colonies, hence the connection.

Citizens of EU member states automatically enjoy voting rights for local and EU elections when they reside in another EU country but are barred from national elections. Some EU countries have also extended the right to vote to non-EU citizens, sometimes connected to residency period or reciprocal arrangements.

Just to show you how complicated voting rights can be, and to answer my question from the beginning, in the UK, as of the publication of this article, only British, Irish and eligible Commonwealth citizens can vote in UK parliamentary elections. For all other elections, it depends which nation of the UK you live in. British overseas voters can only vote in UK parliamentary elections.

In England and Northern Ireland, EU citizens of countries the UK has a bilateral agreement with may vote in local elections, as may EU citizens who were legally resident in the UK before Brexit and who continue to be resident in the UK without a break. Citizens of Malta and Cyprus belong both to the EU and the Commonwealth and can therefore have full voting rights (subject to fulfilling other conditions, such as voting age).

In Wales and Scotland, local and Welsh/Scottish Parliament elections are devolved to their respective parliaments, who set their own voting criteria. Both allow all legally resident foreigners to register to vote in all their elections and the voting age is 16 (18 in the rest of the UK and for all other elections).¹

In summary, voting rights for non-citizens vary wildly across the world and your eligibility to vote often also depends on what passport(s) you hold and how long you’ve held residency. It is advisable to check voting rights where you live as some countries still seem willing to sign bilateral agreements to extend voting rights to more foreign residents. With new governments being elected and the issue of immigration becoming even more of an issue around the world, it is also possible that countries curtail existing voting rights. If being part of the democratic process is very important to you, this will definitely be something to check before choosing your dream country to move to.

1The UK voting criteria is from https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8985/, accessed on 30/4/2025.