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by afew
Mon Jun 15th, 2009 at 04:35:08 AM EST
EUROPEAN ELECTIONS
I commented on Sunday 7 June that I had been prevented from voting in the European parliamentary election by an administrative barrier: in France, a separate register of non-French EU citizens is kept at the town hall for the municipal elections, distinct from the roll for the European elections. I was registered to vote for the municipal elections, but (failure on the part of the town hall clerk to inform me and process my application correctly), I was not on the European register.
Since the Maastricht Treaty founded the notion of EU citizenship and gave the right to vote in municipal and European elections, I have voted in both in France. My previous commune of residence registered me for both without further difficulty. That may be because the separation of the two registers had not yet been decreed, or that the town hall simply considered that obviously I intended to vote in both types of election, and proceeded to put me down on each register. The result was that I wasn't aware a distinction existed between the two registers, and so was very surprised (euphemism) to learn, on Sunday, that I couldn't vote.
I've since learned that another EU citizen (also British) had come up against the same barrier earlier that morning in the same polling station, and that he and his French wife were so mad about it they spent Sunday at the prefecture complaining, saw the magistrate who sits on election days, and finally, late in the afternoon, got a decision that he (the EU citizen) was in fact registered and could vote, which he did just before the polls closed. (I didn't have Sunday free for that, even if the mayor, with whom I had a stand-up argument in the polling station, had informed me of my right to seek redress before the court!)
Note: Why I previously bumped this and am now front-paging it: I would like to get as much information on electoral regulations and conditions as possible. To be clear: I think this is another case where EU communication is appalling, and one where it's quite possible that individual states have applied different rules with disqualification of voters by administrative snafu as a result. It's the opposite of a policy supposed to involve citizens in EU life. Would it be too much to imagine an ET campaign to get this situation changed? Next time round, EU-wide elections on the same day with the same clear rules for all voters?
Note 2: If you're not an EU citizen residing in another EU country than your own, don't feel left out! Any information about how voting for EU residents in your country is organized, will be gratefully received!
What I'm now interested in is finding out how many EU citizen's voting rights are denied, in how many member states, by this dual-register administrative complication (or other forms of administrative complication). If you are an EU citizen living (or having lived) in another member state than your own, what can you tell us about the concrete conditions of application of your voting rights? Take the poll, then tell us in comments which country and what problems or absence of problems.
Ultimately, I'd like to challenge this dual-register thing on the grounds that (especially in the absence of clear information) it is discriminatory against EU citizens who are not of the nationality of their country of residence. The French laws that found the right (in application of EU directives) state the principle that non-French EU citizens have the right to vote dans les mêmes conditions que les citoyens français (in the same conditions as French citizens). French citizens are not required to register separately for municipal and European elections. The principle of equality of treatment is therefore not respected. (The laws do not prescribe the establishment of separate registers; I suspect this separation is the result of an administrative decision communicated by circular from the Interior Ministry, though I have no evidence of that for the moment).
Interior Ministry page on this subject, and law founding the right to vote in the European elections and same with regard to municipal elections.
UPDATE: After some Googling I found this very interesting parliamentary question from the French Senate in 2004, ie after the last European elections:
| Question écrite Nº 12904 du 01/07/2004 page 1436 avec réponse posée par POIRIER (Jean-Marie) du groupe UMP . M. Jean-Marie Poirier souhaite appeler l'attention de M. le ministre de l'intérieur, de la sécurité intérieure et des libertés locales sur l'existence de certaines incohérences s'agissant des modalités du vote des ressortissants européens aux élections municipales et européennes. Le droit de vote des citoyens européens leur a été ouvert par le traité de Maastricht en son article 8 B, la directive n° 94/80/CE du 19 décembre 1994, et, enfin, la loi organique n° 98-404 du 25 mai 1998. Les citoyens de l'Union européenne résidant dans un Etat membre dont ils ne sont pas ressortissants peuvent exercer dans cet Etat leur droit de vote aux élections européennes et municipales. En France, les dispositions régissant le droit de vote des ressortissants européens apparaissent aux articles 227-1 à 227-5 du code électoral. Pour voter, les ressortissants européens doivent s'inscrire sur des listes complémentaires. Bien que les dispositions législatives ne mentionnent pas le caractère alternatif de l'inscription, la pratique distingue la liste complémentaire pour les élections municipales et la liste complémentaire pour les élections européennes puisque l'inscription sur l'une n'entraîne pas automatiquement inscription sur l'autre. Cette règle, mal connue des intéressés, a engendré de nombreuses frustrations lors des récentes élections européennes. En effet, les ressortissants européens inscrits sur les listes complémentaires pour les élections municipales et désireux de prendre part au vote pour les élections européennes se sont présentés vainement à leur bureau de vote puisque ne s'étant pas inscrits sur les listes complémentaires pour les élections européennes. Dans la commune de Sucy-en-Brie, alors que 107 électeurs européens sont inscrits sur les listes complémentaires pour les élections municipales, seuls 59 le sont pour les élections européennes. Alors que d'aucuns déplorent le taux d'abstention lors des élections européennes, il est difficilement concevable de multiplier les procédures d'inscription sur les listes électorales pour les ressortissants européens. Ce formalisme est d'autant plus étonnant que de nombreuses mesures de simplification sont intervenues pour les Français, notamment l'inscription d'office des jeunes de dix-huit ans sur les listes électorales ou la simplification des modalités d'établissement des procurations de vote. Il lui demande en conséquence quelles mesures le Gouvernement compte prendre afin de simplifier les modalités d'inscription sur les listes électorales pour les ressortissants européens. | | Written Question No. 12904 of 01/07/2004 page 1436 with reply, tabled by POIRIER (Jean-Marie) of the UMP.
M. Jean-Marie Poirier wishes to draw the attention of the Minister of the Interior, of Internal Security and Local Freedoms, to the existence of certain inconsistencies regarding the conditions under which European citizens vote in municipal elections and European elections. Voting rights of European citizens were instituted by the Maastricht Treaty in Article 8 B, the Directive No. 94/80/EC of 19 December 1994 and, finally, the Organic Law n ° 98-404 of 25 May 1998. European Union citizens residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals can exercise in that State their right to vote in municipal and European elections. In France, the provisions governing the voting rights of European citizens appear in Articles 227-1 to 227-5 of the electoral code. To vote, EU citizens must register on complementary lists. Although the laws do not mention the alternative registration, in practice a distinction has been made between a list for municipal elections and another list for the European elections, since the inscription on one does not automatically entail inscription on the other. This rule, little known to those concerned, led to frustration in a number of cases during the recent European elections [2004]. EU nationals registered on the list for municipal elections and wishing to vote in the European elections turned up in vain at their polling stations because they hadn't registered on the list for European elections. In the commune of Sucy-en-Brie, while 107 Europeans are registered on the list for municipal elections, only 59 are for the European elections. While some lament the low turnout in European elections, it is unconceivable to increase the number of voter registration procedures for EU nationals. This formalism is particularly surprising in that a number of simplification measures have been taken for French nationals, particularly the automatic registration of eighteen-year-olds on the electoral roll, or the simplification of procedures for proxy voting . He accordingly asks the minister what measures the Government intends to take in order to simplify the procedures for voter registration for EU nationals. | | Ministère de réponse: Intérieur - Publiée dans le JO Senat du 30/09/2004 page 2230. A la suite de la loi n° 94-104 du 5 février 1994 relative à l'exercice par les citoyens de l'Union européenne résidant en France du droit de vote et d'éligibilité aux élections au Parlement européen, la loi organique n° 98-404 du 25 mai 1998 accorde aux citoyens de l'Union européenne résidant en France le droit de vote et d'éligibilité aux élections municipales. Ces lois subordonnent cette participation à l'inscription des intéressés sur une liste électorale complémentaire distincte pour chacune de ces élections. Ce formalisme trouve son fondement dans les textes mêmes qui régissent le droit de participer aux scrutins évoqués ci-dessus. Il se justifie par le fait que les régimes mis en place pour permettre le vote des ressortissants communautaires diffèrent d'un mode d'élection à l'autre. La loi laisse en effet le choix au ressortissant de l'Union qui réside en France de participer à l'élection des représentants de son pays d'origine ou de son pays de résidence au Parlement européen mais il lui est interdit d'être électeur dans deux pays à la fois. La loi permet en revanche à un ressortissant communautaire de participer à une élection municipale en France, et également de participer à une élection municipale dans un autre Etat de l'Union. Le traité signé à Maastricht le 7 février 1992, comme les directives n° 93/109/CE (élections au Parlement européen) et n° 94/80/CE (élections municipales), respectivement du 6 décembre 1993 et du 19 décembre 1994, ont entendu laisser aux citoyens de l'Union le libre choix de participer ou non à la vie politique de leur Etat de résidence. Des instructions sont données chaque année aux communes, chargées de la révision et de la tenue des listes électorales, afin qu'elles appellent l'attention des résidents communautaires sur le choix qui s'offre à eux et qui ne peut s'exercer que dans le cadre de l'élaboration d'une liste électorale complémentaire distincte pour chacune de ces élections | | Responding ministry: Interior - Published in the Senate Official Journal of 30/09/2004, page 2230.
Following Law No. 94-104 of 5 February 1994 on the exercise by EU citizens residing in France of the right to vote and stand for election to the European Parliament, the Organic Law No. 98-404 of 25 May 1998 grants European Union citizens residing in France the right to vote in municipal elections. These laws make this participation subject to inscription on a separate electoral roll for each election. This formalism is based on the very texts governing the right to participate in the elections mentioned above. It is justified by the fact that the systems applied to allow voting by community citizens differ from one type of election to another. The law, in fact, leaves the EU citizen residing in France the choice of participating in the election for the EP representatives of her/is country of origin or country of residence, but it is prohibited to vote in two countries at once. On the other hand, the law allows a citizen to participate in a municipal election in France, and also to participate in a municipal election in another State of the Union. The treaty signed in Maastricht on 7 February 1992 as well as the Directive No 93/109/EC (elections to European Parliament) and No 94/80/EC (municipal elections), respectively, 6 December 1993 and 19 December 1994, intended to allow EU citizens the choice whether to participate, or not, in the political life of their country of residence. Instructions are given each year to municipalities, responsible for reviewing and maintaining the electoral rolls, in order that they should call the attention of EU residents on the choice they may make, and which cannot be exercised in any other way than by the constitution of a separate electoral roll for each of these elections. |
So the ministerial response is that it's the founding laws that dictate the separation of the lists. False. These laws announce that EU citizens have the right to vote in municipal and European elections "in the same conditions as French nationals". French nationals, however, are not obliged to register separately for different types of election. And, in the specific procedures enacted, the laws do not prescribe separate lists for each type of election (trust me, I'll spare you the translation).
Evidently the problem is not new and has caused "frustration" in the past (and does so in other member states too, as we see below). But who cares? Apparently not our governments and not the EU.
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