Foreigners’ voting rights
“It’s not a question of left or right”: people without a Swiss passport should be allowed to vote in Basel in the future
The supporters of residents’ voting rights present their arguments. Members of the bourgeois FDP party are also involved.
From left: Migmar Raith, Marcel Colomb and Edibe Gölgeli from the SP-Basel-Stadt and members of the Resident Voting Rights Alliance: Tonja Zürcher, Fleur Weibel, Zaira Esposito, Thomas Kessler and Claudia Baumgartner.
Around 38 percent of the responsible population in Basel-Stadt is not allowed to have a say in the canton’s political fate. That’s because they don’t have a Swiss passport. This proportion has grown steadily in recent years. “It could soon be that a minority decides over a majority,” says SP councilor Edibe Gölgeli. The SP Basel-Stadt and a non-partisan committee want to prevent this. On November 24th, the people of Basel will vote on the proposal “Voting and election rights for foreigners”. On Tuesday, the yes committee presented its arguments.
Members of the SP argue that these citizens have had their center of life in Basel for decades and also pay taxes here. It is a fundamentally liberal principle that duties and rights should be balanced, says Thomas Kessler from the FDP Basel-Stadt. “This is not a question of left or right, but of equality,” said the former Basel city developer. Fleur Weibel, Green Party councilor, adds: “Democracy thrives on as many people as possible having a say. Whoever makes the canton economically strong should be allowed to have a say.”
Naturalization is not that easy
The canton of Jura has granted foreign people the right to vote in cantonal votes and elections since 1979 and the canton of Neuchâtel since 2001. Opponents of voting rights for foreigners argue that its introduction would reduce motivation for naturalization. She doesn’t share this fear, says GLP councilor Claudia Baumgartner. If you get cantonal voting rights, you would automatically be more involved in Swiss politics. Many would like to have a say in the federal government and thus become naturalized, said Baumgartner.
According to Migmar Raith, member of the Naturalization Commission of the Basel Community, the usual argument against expanded voting rights is always that foreigners could simply become naturalized. However, the hurdles of this undertaking should be taken into account: the ten years of residence required are too long for many people. So they keep their permanent residence permit out of habit. In addition, according to Baumgartner, you can lose your previous citizenship when you naturalize.
In Basel-Stadt, voting rights for people without a Swiss passport have already been voted on twice, in 1994 and 2010. Both times the proposals failed. The conditions for the current attempt: To have the right to vote, you must have lived in the canton of Basel-Stadt for at least five years and have a permanent residence permit (ID card C). The latter requires an uninterrupted period of residence in Switzerland of five or ten years.
These conditions go back to the motion by SP Grand Councilor Edibe Gölgeli and others, which the Grand Council passed in 2019. However, the extension of voting rights would only apply to active voting rights. This means that Basel residents without a Swiss passport are allowed to have a say in votes and elections, but are not allowed to run for political office.
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