Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/10/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Chris, > Interesting. In many countries in Europe you can vote at local elections > even without being a citizen. I vote in local Germany election although > I am a Swedish citizen becauseI have several years of residency in > Germany. As a citizen of a EU country I could also vote in France by > simply going the town hall and declare my residency in my little > village. Then I could not vote in Germany, unless I had double > residence. I have not been allowed to vote in Sweden for decades due to > non-residency. This is generally true only for EU citizens residing in another EU country. Even then, they can vote in local elections only, not the national elections of the country in which they reside. Some countries, I believe, have extended this right to non-EU nationals who have permanent residency, but it is rare. > > Are you allowed to vote in Switzerland? > No. I am a U.S. citizen, and in Switzerland only Swiss citizens can vote, including in local elections--those are the only important ones here anyway, since all relevant decisions are taken at the cantonal or local level, or by referendum. I believe that there are discussions in one of the cantons to allow foreigners with a C permit (equivalent to a U.S. Green Card, i.e. permanent residency, which is obtained here after 5 years) to vote in cantonal elections. But such a change would have to be approved by a referendum, which I doubt will succeed. Nathan - -- Nathan Wajsman Herrliberg (ZH), Switzerland e-mail: wajsman@webshuttle.ch mobile: +41 78 732 1430 Photo-A-Week: http://www.wajsman.com/indexpaw2002.htm General photo site: http://www.wajsman.com/index.htm - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html