Who should vote, who can vote, and who does vote? Democratic inclusion principles and the electoral participation of migrants

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) defines the ‘basis of the authority of government’ as being ‘the will of the people’ (Art 21.1) and emphasises that ‘everyone has the right to take part in the government of his [sic.] country, directly or through freely chosen representatives’ (Art. 21.3).

But who exactly are ‘the people’? Should ‘everyone’ be interpreted literally? And which country is ‘his’ (or ‘hers’)? The presentation focuses on migrants’ electoral participation. It focuses on four questions: Should migrants be allowed to vote? In which countries can they vote? If they can vote, do they? And if so, why (not)? It will provide a comprehensive overview of the latest normative and empirical debates around these questions in general, augmented with an in-depth examination of immigrants’ electoral participation in Sweden (one of the countries in the world that is most liberal in granting non-citizens the right to vote in sub-national elections).

Derek Hutcheson is professor of Political Science and Pro Dean of the Faculty of Culture and Society (KS) at Malmö University in Sweden. He has researched extensively on the comparative study of elections, transnational citizenship and electoral rights, and the politics of the post-Soviet region.  Current funded research projects include "New perspectives on the electoral participation of immigrants in Sweden" (2024-28)", funded by the Swedish Research Council, which focuses on in-depth examination of turnout amongst foreign-born voters in Sweden; and the Swedish Institute-funded "BUILDS-UP – Building Universal and Inclusive Local Design – a Swedish-Ukrainian Partnership" project (2024-26), working with Ukrainian municipalities and to improve civic awareness of issues surrounding disability. He has been a visiting fellow at the Australian National University twice (2023 and 2025), and has also had a long association with the Global Citizenship Observatory (formerly EUDO-Citizenship) at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.