Okay, let's be less vague then: Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Czechia, Slovakia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Greece, Romania, Moldova, Mexico, and Egypt have mail voting only for citizens abroad.
France, Iceland, Croatia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Ukraine, Turkey, Israel, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Nepal, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Taiwan, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar, and every single country in South America (except Guyana and Suriname) have no mail voting whatsoever. As a glance at the map in the wiki article will reveal, this is not even half of the list.
Are all of them disenfranchising their voters, and failing to live up to the promises of democracy, specifically because of the lack of mail voting?
Do you think Trump's restrictions will have no practical effect
I think even if he bans voting by mail entirely, it would be consistent with the majority of democracies in the world, and would not reduce democracy in any way. In fact it would strengthen it, because one can have more trust in the legitimacy of each vote. I grant that this part is subjective, but the consistency with other democracies is fact.
What does seem unique is the obligation to pay income tax living abroad.
It seems to make no sense to have a say if you aren't going to pay for anything.
My Aunt moved to Australia 60 years ago. She should vote how my tax is spend? She had a very busy life, she should make time to watch dutch propaganda TV? She also doesn't like the idea of being counted as someone who didn't vote.
We likewise have lots of immigrants who vote in their "home" country they don't live in or never did.
I am Norwegian and have voted by mail within the country. Or maybe I didn't vote by mail. I handed in the envelope with the vote form at the post office, if you want to be precise about it. But if you want to argue that Trump is joining a large club of countries that restrict voting, then I think you ought to look at the substance, not the detail. And the substance is that I handed in the form at the post office.
My father does not go anywhere to vote. He fills in his form at home.
The restrictions are such that people can vote, and that's what matters.
Comments
Okay, let's be less vague then: Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Czechia, Slovakia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Greece, Romania, Moldova, Mexico, and Egypt have mail voting only for citizens abroad.
France, Iceland, Croatia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Ukraine, Turkey, Israel, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Nepal, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Taiwan, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar, and every single country in South America (except Guyana and Suriname) have no mail voting whatsoever. As a glance at the map in the wiki article will reveal, this is not even half of the list.
Are all of them disenfranchising their voters, and failing to live up to the promises of democracy, specifically because of the lack of mail voting?
I think even if he bans voting by mail entirely, it would be consistent with the majority of democracies in the world, and would not reduce democracy in any way. In fact it would strengthen it, because one can have more trust in the legitimacy of each vote. I grant that this part is subjective, but the consistency with other democracies is fact.
What does seem unique is the obligation to pay income tax living abroad.
It seems to make no sense to have a say if you aren't going to pay for anything.
My Aunt moved to Australia 60 years ago. She should vote how my tax is spend? She had a very busy life, she should make time to watch dutch propaganda TV? She also doesn't like the idea of being counted as someone who didn't vote.
We likewise have lots of immigrants who vote in their "home" country they don't live in or never did.
Those things seem odd if you view a country as a territory and economic zone. But not if you view it as a people, i.e. a nation.
It seems perfectly reasonable to be part of a people but not pay, not vote and not suffer the consequences.
As us citizens do have to pay taxes while enjoying limited benefits it would be much stranger to not let them vote.
I am Norwegian and have voted by mail within the country. Or maybe I didn't vote by mail. I handed in the envelope with the vote form at the post office, if you want to be precise about it. But if you want to argue that Trump is joining a large club of countries that restrict voting, then I think you ought to look at the substance, not the detail. And the substance is that I handed in the form at the post office.
My father does not go anywhere to vote. He fills in his form at home.
The restrictions are such that people can vote, and that's what matters.