Abstract
In this article, we analyze the nexus between political regimes and external voting rights. Using a global longitudinal dataset, we report that higher levels of inclusion and contestation bring higher probabilities that a state adopts and implements emigrant enfranchisement. Taking outliers from our quantitative assessment, we then further examine two liberal democracies, Ireland and Uruguay, and two electoral autocracies, Turkey and Venezuela. These country cases reveal three mechanisms that shed light on the strategic role of political elites in explaining the relation between political regime type and emigrant enfranchisement. First, the democracies under study show us that in certain contexts with a relatively large diaspora size and in which part of the political spectrum is hesitant about the political orientation of nonresident citizens, emigrant enfranchisement is neither necessarily promulgated nor implemented. Second, the autocracies illustrate that when the diaspora favors (or is perceived to favor) the incumbency, then external voting rights are extended; otherwise, third, they are withheld or limited for nonresident citizens.
Highlights
Voting from abroad is broadly conceptualized as a set of procedures that enable nonresident citizens to partake in home-country elections and possibly stand as candidates (Nohlen and Grotz, 2000; Lafleur, 2013; Collyer, 2014a)
We find liberal democracies are around two times more likely to enact voting rights for nonresident citizens (HR 2.1; p-value < 0.05), as compared to closed autocracies
We examined the relation between political regimes and external voting rights
Summary
Voting from abroad is broadly conceptualized as a set of procedures that enable nonresident citizens (emigrants) to partake in home-country elections and possibly stand as candidates (Nohlen and Grotz, 2000; Lafleur, 2013; Collyer, 2014a). It is a common practice globally, with more than 130 autonomous territories having promulgated emigrant enfranchisement (Allen et al, 2019). This might be explained by the fact that external voting can swing electoral results, and because political competition may cause the incumbent and/or opposition parties to make electoral reforms and regulate external voting (Brand, 2010; Gamlen, 2015; Turcu and Urbatsch, 2020a; Wellman, 2020)
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