A few countries in Europe, Africa and the Americas—not only allow their citizens abroad to participate actively in some electoral processes, but also enable them to elect their own representatives to the national legislature. This was also formerly the case in the Cook Islands, but the ‘external seat’ there was abolished in 2003. This practice is clearly aimed at reinforcing external voters link with the national political community, enabling promotion of their own legislative agenda and direct intervention from an overseas viewpoint in the debates and processes of political decision making on topics of national interest. Each case has its own particular features.
Political representation in national legislatures for external voters
The constitution adopted by Cape Verde in 1992 provided for the creation of three districts abroad, with two representatives elected to the National Assembly in each of them—one district for voters residing in Africa, another for those residing in the Americas, and another for those living in Europe and the rest of the world. This rule was applied for the first time during the legislative elections of December 1995, and again in the elections of 2001 and in 2006. In Colombia, the constitution approved in 1991 provided for the creation of a special electoral district that would ensure the representation of political minorities, ethnic groups and citizens residing abroad. A decade later, the Congress approved a law for the creation of this special district, made up of five seats in the House of Representatives. It was decided that one of those seats would correspond to Colombians residing abroad, and this seat was occupied for the first time after the legislative elections of 2002.
The law on parliamentary elections in Croatia adopted in 1995 created a special electoral district in the single-chamber parliament to represent the enormous Croatian diaspora (of whom it was estimated at the time that more than 400,000 persons were old enough to vote). Twelve seats were assigned to the district—the same number as to each of the ten multi-member districts into which the country is divided. As a result of criticism of the excessive number of seats assigned to Croatians abroad, the law was reformed. It now provides for a maximum of six seats, but states that the exact number will be determined after every election using a formula that takes into account the number of votes cast abroad and the average number of votes needed to obtain a seat in-country. For the elections of 2003, Croatians abroad were given only four seats.
In France, since 1948 citizens abroad have been provided with representation in the Senate, and since 1983 this has amounted to 12 seats. However, it is important to emphasize that these 12 senators are not chosen in any direct way by the French abroad; instead they are selected by a college made up of 150 elected members out of the 183 who make up the High Council of French Citizens Abroad (Conseil Supérieur des Français de l’Etranger, CSFE, also created in 1948), which represents before the French government some 2 million French citizens resident abroad. The 150 members of that council are directly elected by voters abroad.
In addition to providing for the external vote for elections to the legislature and referendums, the constitutional reforms approved in Italy in 2000 stated that citizens abroad are provided with representation in both chambers of the parliament—12 seats in the House of Representatives and six in the Senate. These constitutional arrangements were regulated by a specific law enacted in early 2002, a few months after the May 2001 elections, and Italians abroad would gain political representation only after the subsequent legislative elections. For that purpose, the law foresaw the creation of four electoral districts abroad: one for Europe, another one for South America, the third for North America and Central America and the last to cover Africa, Asia, Oceania and Antarctica, for both chambers. For every district a minimum of one deputy seat and one senator seat will be assigned, and the remaining ones will be distributed in accordance with the number of external voters. External voting took place for the first time in a referendum held in May 2003.
The constitution adopted by Mozambique in 1990 establishes, in addition to external voting for legislative elections, that two of the 250 seats that make up the Assembly of the Republic will correspond to the electoral districts constituted abroad—one for Africa and one for the rest of the world. Although consecutive electoral laws that have been approved since then have included some measures in this direction, it was only with the law and arrangements adopted by the electoral authority to regulate the general elections of December 2004 that these constitutional provisions finally materialized. The Mozambicans living in seven countries of the continent made up the electoral district for Africa, while those living in two European countries (Germany and Portugal) made up another district for which a representative was also elected.
The Portuguese abroad have been represented in the House of Representatives since 1976. For this purpose, voters abroad also make up two electoral districts, one for Europe and the other for the rest of the world. Two deputies are elected in each of these districts, but only if a minimum of 55,000 electors cast a vote within the district. If fewer voters cast a vote, only one seat is assigned to the corresponding district. In the parliamentary elections of February 2005, both districts obtained their two seats.
