Parliament adopted two sets of closely aligned proposals on the electoral rights of EU citizens residing in another member state, in relation to European and municipal elections. The former report by Damian Boeselager (Greens/EFA, DE) was adopted with 500 votes in favour, 143 against, and nine abstentions. The latter one by Joachim Brudziński (ECR, PL) was adopted with 504 votes for, 79 against, and 69 abstentions.

Parliament asks for the so-called “derogation” provisions, which allow a member state to restrict the electoral rights of nationals of other EU countries when they represent more than 20% of all EU citizens residing in its territory, to be scrapped. The possibility of reserving top local government positions for their own nationals should also be removed, MEPS say.

Further, MEPs demand binding rules on:

• systems to proactively proceed with voter registration, as soon as a citizen registers as a resident in another EU country;
• information on electoral rights and deadlines to be offered to newly registered EU residents in an official EU language that they speak; and
• applying identical standards to all EU citizens (be it nationals of the country or from another member state) seeking to stand for election.

Parliament also calls on the member states to make it easier for vulnerable groups, including persons with disabilities and mental illnesses, to exercise their electoral rights. MEPs defend alternatives to physical ballots and in-person voting – such as…