Getting on the electoral register is simple and straightforward

You can live abroad but still vote on Swiss matters. Switzerland grants voting rights to its citizens living abroad. If you want to exercise your voting rights, you must first get on the electoral register. Close to 789,000 Swiss citizens live abroad. A large proportion of them - over 600,000 - are over 18 years of age, and therefore entitled under Swiss law to vote and stand for election. But by no means do all of them exercise the political rights. Only around 220,000 Swiss abroad are currently registered to vote. Yet the procedure is relatively simple and, above all, only has to be carried out once: anyone entered in the register systematically receives the voting and election material they need by post, without having to ask for it. The legal requirements are equally straightforward: to join an electoral register, you must be at least 18 years of age, not be under guardianship, be permanently domiciled abroad, have registered with the relevant Swiss representation and be ...