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Comment by mrweasel | Hacker News Reader

Note that they can vote in local election (municipal and regional) and for the EU parliament, the article does mention this, but it is a bit hidden.

I think that Brexit illustrates exactly why you need to be a citizen for elections of that type. It seems unfair to let the large number of other European living in the UK have influence on whether or not the UK was to stay, as they are still guests. Same for government election, you are a valued and wanted guest, but you are still a guest.

The complaint, to me, has some value, because the EU countries are making it fairly hard to chance citizenship. On the one hand, they are also completely free to move, if they don't want to pay taxes to a government they can't vote for, on the other, ensuring that these people has the option to say: I'm planning on staying for a very long time, I provide value, I want to be able to vote, should be a priority.

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> I think that Brexit illustrates exactly why you need to be a citizen for elections of that type

I'm a UK citizen who was denied the right to vote in the Brexit election. I normally choose not to vote in any UK elections, because I haven't lived there for 36 years and have no intention to return. However, Brexit was a different kettle of fish entirely, and Cameron promised that the "gone for 15 years, no vote" rule would be repealed before the vote. It was not, and tens of millions of UK expatriates were denied the right to vote on their ability to live in the EU.

Absolutely disgraceful.

In Spain, EU citizens cannot vote in regional elections. They may only vote in municipal elections and in elections to the EU parliament.

there should be a uniform system, something like that if you have lived in one country and have paid taxes there (fiscal residency) for more than X years you should be able to vote local elections.

A EU citizen living in the UK for long enough, and with a plan to stay, should have a say on the decisions of that country.

Yes, there is citizenship, but rules are all different and are made every more complicated as we speak (I like in Sweden, where the case is clear).

we are guests but when we donate blood they strangely don't offer to send the blood to our origin coutry? when we pay taxes they strangely don't offer to let us off? so are we just guests or are we part of the nation too?

It's a challenge for sure. The problem is that some EU countries aren't that big, and moving the government in one direction or another is entirely possible if you can just move a small amount of people to that country, which they are free to do. E.g. moving 50.000 Hungarians to a Nordic or Baltic country can change governments.

If we assume the best, there should not be a problem in letting people vote for the government in the country their reside, if we assume the worst, it's a massive problem.

you will be shocked to discover that no one is an island but ok you send 50 000 Hungarians north, they live through the 9 months winters, i guess they find a job, learn the language, marry the people and then what's the plan? for them to suddenly make hungarian the official language? let me guess you've never left Nebrahoma? this is laughable

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