Taking part in elections

Written by Patrick Middleton

From Reporter Issue 100

HAVING A SAY…

Residents from other EU countries have several possibilities to take part in elections… if they choose to do so. Patrick Middleton explains.

Let’s take a British expat living here just 20 years ago. He had no vote anywhere and certainly no right to stand as a candidate. That wasn’t entirely true of his neighbours from other EEC countries, as they were then called, who in most cases were able to vote in their national elections. As the number of Brits living abroad steadily increased, a lobby developed on this issue and the franchise was eventually granted to U.K. citizens who had lived overseas for up to five years, then for up to 20 years. These were Conservative measures, and they attracted some hostility on the Labour side. One left-winger, Jeremy Corbin, claimed that most Brits abroad were “tax-dodgers, conmen and wasters.”

“And then they settled the quarantine thing”

Locally, a handful of enthusiasts became committed to the cause of extending the franchise without limit and at the same time were encouraging Brits here to use their vote. They had little success. The system of overseas voting — including the use of a proxy — was cumbersome and most people entitled to vote didn’t feel sufficiently involved in U.K. politics to do so. I took up the issue both in these pages and on local radio and ran interviews with a number of leading politicians, including Kenneth Baker and Chris Patten for the Tories and Roy Hattersley for Labour (a fervent supporter of an unrestricted franchise for expats). But the numbers registering and voting, here and elsewhere, remained very small. Only one topic seemed really to concern my readers and listeners, and that was the quarantine laws. As one man put it, “I’d vote for the Communists if they’d let my dog in.” Well, it was Comrade Blair who finally dealt with “the pooch factor”, as I called it, and nothing has replaced it.

Of course, there are still a few people who get passionate about voting rights for U.K. expats. Notably, there’s a Dick Pantlin, based in Brussels, who goes on about this full-time. I met him once and noted that rather scary manic tone you find with Esperantists and proponents of World Government. He’s got plans for a lifetime’s right to vote and a special M.P. elected by expats to look after their interests. Well, none of that’s going to happen. Labour remains hostile and recently cut the foreign residency period to 15 years (they had initially aimed for 10) although they have also simplified the voting procedure. For up to date information look at www.electoralcommission.gov.uk. I don’t imagine many people will do so. The once rather active Conservative group here folded years ago. As one former member put it to me, “It was always a lot of hassle, then they settled the quarantine thing — and now we’ve got IDS. So why bother?”

“No regrets and great rewards as an expat councillor”

Back in the eighties and early nineties Brits would quite often say “frankly, I’m not interested in voting in the U.K. but I’d like to have a say here,” and I’ve been told others, like the Dutch and the Danes, voiced a similar opinion. Well, now they’ve got their wish. Under the Maastricht treaty of 1992 EU citizens resident in other member states were given the right to vote and to stand as candidates in municipal and European elections. That means that Brits and the rest living in any of France’s 36,615 communes can go to the polls and put up as councillors (but not become mayors). Things move slowly here, as we know, and it was only in 2001 that the system really got going. Even then in some places John and Joao, Sigrid and Siobhan had to insist before officials checked that the law did indeed allow them to vote. But polling centres weren’t exactly overwhelmed by “guest voters”. Across the country only 967 of those qualified applied to go on the electoral polls — that’s less than 1 per cent of eligible residents — and of those who stood, 16 gained council seats. Five of these were in the Alpes-Maritimes, a Belgian, a Portuguese and three Brits, including Sue Dunnachie in Mougins (profiled in Reporter n° 91) and Tracey Glowinski (pictured with husband Julian) in Bar-sur-Loup. Pierrefeu seems to have acquired an absentee member.

So how did Tracey end up on the council? “A bit of background, first. I’ve been in France for 17 years. I read French at university and came over as an assistante at a school near Dunkirk. Afterwards I worked in Paris and elsewhere. I got married to Julian and we moved south six years ago, first to Valbonne and then to Bar-sur-Loup. It’s an increasingly popular place with expats and we’ve been very happy here. I’ve found it very easy to assimilate into the way of life and get on very well with the locals. I actually achieved quite a reputation as a maker of vin d’orange! The council thing came as quite a surprise. One day Bernard Alcioni, a builder who’s active in local politics, turned up and said he’d noticed me around the village and he’d like me to join his list for the next municipales. You get purely political lists, of course, but Bernard’s people weren’t party animals, they were non-inscrits, concerned with the welfare of the village and its inhabitants. Frankly, I didn’t know exactly what was involved but I was rather flattered and said yes.”

And now, two and a half years later, how does Tracey feel? “No regrets! It’s a lot of work — more than I’d imagined — but it’s got great rewards. You get total acceptance by the community and people will talk to you about everything from dog droppings and road surfaces to noisy neighbours and sightings of foxes. Beyond this are things which I count as real achievements. I’ve been closely involved with the creation of a state-of-the-art children’s playground and a big flower competition — now in its second year and a huge success.” Any downsides? “Well, there’s a certain amount of bureaucracy and you have to deal with it.” As an expat councillor does she feel a special concern for other foreign residents? “In a way, yes. I’m always ready to hear from and help them. Above all, though, I’d like them to use their votes (see Box below) and maybe follow in my footsteps.”

Europe: “A lot of education is needed”

Tracey Glowinski has the good fortune to practice face-to-face politics. She talks directly to people — her neighbours — about down-to-earth issues that affect them intimately. This time next year Karl Pagac hopes to find himself in a somewhat different situation. Based in Villeneuve-Loubet, a British subject of Austrian birth, Karl aims to get elected to the 625-member European parliament in Strasbourg. To achieve this he will have to be invited to join an existing “political” list in the region or, with others, create a pan-European list composed of EU expatriates. He understands the problems he faces: “Europe arouses a mixture of boredom and resentment in many people. It seems immensely complicated and a lot of what they read and hear in the media seems to concern Brussels meddling in all sorts of things and corruption. There’s a lot of education needed to get people to understand why the EU and its institutions are important to them.”

To dispense such education is the mission of Européens en France, an association set up by former U.K. journalist Julian Nundy. Its aim, he explains, is “to mobilise all EU citizens living in this country to take part in next year’s European elections and maybe to stand as candidates. With their particular background and experience they’ve got something special to contribute.” Here on the Coast, says Karl Pagac, “We’re hoping to set up a local branch of the association and work to get people voting and, we’d expect, if we have our own list, campaigning for our people. It’s a big job but we’re going to have a good try.”

AND SO YOU WANT TO VOTE?

There are two separate additional electoral rolls for EU citizens wishing to vote, one for the municipal elections, one for the European. To get on the lists in your commune you need to register before December 31st for the following year. The next municipales aren’t until June 2007 but the Euroelection is in June next year. So in that case it’s action this day!

The mairie will require: sight of your valid carte de séjour, a recent (not more than 3 months old) electricity or telephone bill or something similar and a personal statement in French giving your nationality and address here and attesting that you are fully eligible to vote in your own country but will not do so if you vote here. The mairie will usually provide a model.