Electoral Participation of Poles Residing Abroad in National and European Parliament Elections. The Analysis of Results and Factors Influencing the Attendance
Electoral Participation of Poles Residing Abroad in National and European Parliament Elections. The Analysis of Results and Factors Influencing the Attendance

Summary/Abstract: The article presents the phenomenon of external voting: participation of citizens residing abroad in elections that take place in country of origin. Author offers the comparative analysis of data from parliamentary and presidential elections over last two decades (1990 – 2011) and elections to European Parliament (2004 – 2014) that took place in Poland. The noticeable increase in number of votes from abroad is the result of the growing stock of Poles residing abroad since Poland’s accession to the EU in 2004, the legal and institutional changes towards simplifying voting procedures, but also the consequence of the fact that emigration of Poles became an issue of media interest and target group for political parties during the electoral campaigns.

• Details
• Contents