Non-citizen suffrage

Suffrage, the right to vote, is often extended to non-citizens. This right varies widely by place in terms of which non-citizens are allowed to vote and in which elections, though there has been a trend over the last 30 years to enfranchise more non-citizens, especially in Europe. In many countries, some subnational entities have granted voting rights to non-citizens. Other countries have granted voting rights to non-citizens who hold citizenship of a country which is a fellow member of a supranational organization (e.g. members of the European Union). In a few cases, countries or other governmental entities grant voting rights to citizens and non-citizens alike. In a 2003 paper, David C. Earnest (then a graduate research assistant at George Washington University) surveyed practice of voting rights for resident noncitizens (or immigrants), concluding that the practice is widespread and the details varied considerably from country to country. In another paper, Earnest compared voting rights for resident noncitizens in 25 democracies, grouping them into six categories as follows: 0: No rights (Australia by grandfathered franchise after 1984, Austria, Belgium, Costa Rica, Denmark before 1977, Finland before 1981, France, Germany except for 1989–90, Greece, Ireland before 1962, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands before 1979, Norway before 1978, Spain before 1985, Sweden before 1976, the United Kingdom before 1949, and the United States before 1968). 1: Rights granted only by subnational governments (Canada from 1975 to the present; West Germany in 1989, the Netherlands from 1979 to 1981, Switzerland from 1960 to the present, and the United States from 1968 to the present). 2: Local rights, discriminatory (Denmark from 1977 to 1980; Finland from 1981 to 1990; Israel from 1960 to the present; and Norway from 1978 to 1981). 3: National rights, discriminatory (Australia from 1960 to 1984, Canada from 1960 to 1974, Ireland from 1985 to the present, New Zealand from 1960 to 1974, Portugal, the United Kingdom).