The globalization of political, personal and professional life, the spread of democracy throughout the world and an increase in migration have all contributed to an increasing interest in voting rights for refugees, diplomats, members of the armed forces serving overseas and other people who are temporarily or permanently absent from their own country. The ability of these people to exercise their right to vote when an election in their home country takes place has long been an issue in electoral design and management. As the number of countries holding democratic elections has increased, however, it has become much more salient. It is not only that many more people are travelling and working around the globe. As elections take place in countries in transition after authoritarian rule, and even more so after violent conflict, the rights of refugees and people living outside a country to participate in building its future are increasingly important. At the same time, questions of principle have emerged: exactly who has the right to be represented, and how?

While the constitutions of many countries guarantee the right to vote for all citizens, in reality voters who are outside their home country when elections take place are often disenfranchised because of a lack of procedures enabling them to exercise that right.

Although it is quite a recent phenomenon, external voting is now on the political agenda in many countries. Universal—that is, unrestricted and unconditional—external voting is regarded by many as part of the citizen’s rights in a world where living or staying abroad forms part of the life of millions of people and where the exercise of rights and the enforcement of laws are becoming more transnational every day.