European Parliament elections 2009 (96): The insignificance of the expat vote

If the figures presented by EurActiv last week are correct, then many EU citizens living in another EU country won't vote, at least not in their new place of residence.

The number of EU expacts having registered where they live seems to be really low, 3% in Poland, about 4,6% in Greece, 11.2% in Belgium, 16,9% in Sweden. Only Cyprus seems to have a better percentage.

This doesn't necessarily mean they won't vote at all, depending on whether they might still be registered in their home country and would be able to vote by mail. However, I don't think that this will be a significant number and we might get an insignificant expat vote in the next month.

It fits into the picture of these elections, and it's probably the irony of the system that those who might actually profit the most from the EU - mobile EU citizens living in another EU country - will not be able to vote (or worse: are not interested in voting).

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Under the category "European parliament elections 2009" I am following up national and European activities on the path to the European Parliament elections 2009.

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