According to Evandro Cimetta, the president of the Association for the Support of Immigrant Workers (ASTI), the figure of 16% is disappointingly low. Cimetta participated in a roundtable discussion with other experts on RTL Radio.
In early March that figure stood at 12.5%.
Sylvain Bech, head of the Intercultural and Social Education and Training Centre (CEFIS), added that access to the electoral system is “extremely difficult,” particularly due to the language barrier, with political debates being held exclusively in Luxembourgish.
Bech also criticised the fact that the issue of foreign residents voting is only discussed shortly before the elections, and then disappears from public discourse afterward.
Your guide to registering to vote ahead of Monday’s deadline
Cimetta pointed out that the government has not done enough to raise awareness of the registration process and the media has not given it enough attention. Manuela Pereira, editor-in-chief of Radio Latina, agreed, emphasising the need to address the issue on a national and long-term basis.
To improve the situation, Cimetta suggested that non-Luxembourg nationals should be automatically enrolled for municipal elections, with the option to deregister. He argued that when someone registers at a town hall, they should immediately be offered the opportunity to register for the elections.
Bech also highlighted the issue of registration deadlines, which expire before parties’ election programmes are made public, as campaigning does not start until May.
What decisions are made on the municipal level?
ASTI calls for the need to address the issue not only in municipal elections but also in national elections. The association stresses that the legitimacy of representatives on the national level should be called into question, given that 50% of the population is barred from voting in these elections.
