Out-of-country expatriate voting as a transnational political activity : the case of the Lebanese in Australia

Abstract

Lebanon’s Minister of the Interior, Marwan Charbel has proposed a number of electoral reforms, one of which is out-of-country voting rights for expatriates which, at present, looks to be enacted by parliamentary elections in 2013. Out-of-country voting rights will allow Lebanese residing abroad to participate in national and regional elections from their country residence rather than requiring their return to vote. Based on the proposed logistics of the reform as outlined by the Ministry of the Interior, this research aims to evaluate the chosen methods, and outline potential political and social outcomes of out-of country expatriate voting using the Lebanese community in Australia as a case study. Predicting certain outcomes of the reform is, of course, impossible because we cannot know how many expatriates will exercise their right to vote. However, the aims of this research is to assess the social and political conditions of Lebanon and its communities abroad to determine the levels of interest in electoral participation, and sketch an outline of potential consequences in light of this perceived interest. There are two concluding hypotheses offered by this research. Firstly, that current government estimations of expatriate electoral participation undervalue the levels of transnational political interest that exist in the Lebanese diaspora. Secondly, that considerable expatriate electoral participation has the potential to present substantial, negative social and political outcomes for both resident and non-resident populations. It goes on to conclude that Lebanon, by virtue of its demographic makeup, its confessional political structure, its compromised electoral processes and its unconsolidated political stability may not be ready, or structurally suitable to incorporate out-of-country-voting in the format currently being proposed by the Ministry of the Interior.