political participation, voting rights, migration history, democracy, independent
4 x symbolic elections on offical election day (local and national)
Whoever lives in Freiburg is directly affected by public transportation prices, available day care, or decisions concerning municipal housing – independent of being born in Freiburg, Hamburg, Madrid, Ankara, or Duala.
All legal-age residents of a city should be equally entitled to elect their communal parliament independent of birthplace or passport. The Freiburg Council of Foreigners, the Freiburg City Council and the City`s Mayor advocate this view. A two-thirds majority vote in the upper house of the federal parliament, however, is necessary for the enactment of a law allowing universal communal suffrage for foreigners.
The right to participate in universal, free, and secret elections is a basic principle of a democratic state system. Foreign citizen participation in elections promotes integration and expresses social and political equality. This is already common practice in 16 of 27 EU countries.
political participation, voting rights, migration history, democracy, independent