The Centre d’étude et de formation interculturelles et sociales (CEFIS), whose mission is to promote social cohesion in Luxembourg, has studied the electoral participation of foreign residents in the local elections of June 2023. In terms of turnout, this was a historic election: for the first time, the number of new registrants exceeded the 50,000 mark. To be precise, 50,084 new voters registered, an increase of 45% compared to the 2017 local elections and almost five times more than in 1999.
This figure represents a registration rate of 19.8%. This development underlines the effectiveness of the information campaigns aimed at encouraging non-national residents to take part in local elections. Nonetheless, the political weight of these voters remains marginal within political parties and local executives.
Relative weight
In the municipal elections, voters of foreign nationality represented 15.1% of the electorate. This proportion rose to 28.1% in Luxembourg City. The proportion of foreign voters was also high in Strassen (28.4%), Hesperange (21.1%) and Bertrange (20.5%).
If we look at the candidatures for the municipal elections, the proportion of Luxembourgish candidates was 90.2%, with 3,475 people, whilst the proportion of foreigners was 9.8%, with 379 candidates. Although the number of foreign candidates is gradually increasing, it has remained low since 1999, when foreign voters began to participate actively and passively in municipal elections. The déi Gréng list has the highest number of foreigners (79 candidates). déi Gréng also stands out for the diversity of its candidates, with 21 different nationalities. The DP and LSAP each had 50 candidates of foreign origin, the Pirates 43, CSV 36, ADR 26 and déi Lénk 24.
A few candidates but few elected
Of these 379 candidates, 5.5% were elected, i.e., 21 people, including 13 women and eight men. Together, they represent 1.9% of the country’s elected representatives. This proportion has remained stable since 1999. The 21 foreign nationals elected in the 2023 municipal elections include nine Portuguese people, four Germans, two Belgians, two French people, one Austrian, one Dane, one Spaniard and one Italian. As in 2017, there are no non-EU elected representatives. “Of the 21 foreigners elected in 2023, only one has been appointed alderman, and so far no foreigner has been appointed burgomaster,” notes the study.
In detail, 11 foreigners were elected in municipalities with a majority system, four were elected in municipalities with a proportional system on local lists, i.e., lists with no visible affiliation to one of the traditional political parties, and six were elected in the following political parties: four in the LSAP, one in the DP and one in the Pirate Party. There are no foreign members in the CSV, déi Gréng or the smaller political parties.
Profiling
At 1 January 2024, according to Statec figures, Luxembourg had 317,678 foreign residents, or 47.3% of its total population. Of these, 12.4% were born in Luxembourg. EU nationals accounted for 77.3% of the total foreign population, or 245,565 people. Of the 50,084 people on the electoral roll, 42,297 are EU nationals. The most active nationalities, in descending order, were Austria (33%), the Netherlands (29%), Germany (29%), Denmark (26%) and Belgium (24%). The Portuguese community’s turnout was only 20%, but this represents 15,045 people, or 30% of non-Luxembourg voters. The French (23.6% of registered voters, i.e., 9,293 people) came second.
Although the turnout rate for EU residents is higher than that for non-EU nationals--21% compared with 15.3%--the gap is narrowing. In 2023, nationals of 135 non-EU countries were registered to vote. Of these, 58 nationalities had fewer than 10 registered. Iranians (27% registration rate), Indians (26%), Turks (23%), UK nationals (20%) and Filipinos (27%) were the most active.
Finally, of the 379 applicants, 113 were Portuguese, 64 French, 44 German, 37 Belgian, 27 Italian and 14 Dutch, and 44 were from outside the EU--14 from Africa, 9 from the Americas, 9 from Asia, 11 from other non-EU European countries and one from Oceania.
Local roots
The study shows that only 3% of registered foreign residents were born in Luxembourg. That’s 1,261 people. The hypothesis put forward by the authors of the report is that these people--who are generally better integrated politically and socially--would prefer to gain access to political rights by acquiring Luxembourg nationality. Generally speaking, 32% of people aged over 65 have registered to vote, compared with only 5% of 18-24 year-olds. “It is possible to conclude that length of residence, and therefore local roots, is a determining factor in the propensity to register to vote. Indeed, a positive correlation can be observed between time spent in a locality and political involvement, suggesting that residential stability strengthens integration into the social fabric and encourages greater participation in the electoral process,” say the authors of the study.
This article was originally published in .