Electoral Participation of Ecuadoreans Abroad: The Spanish Case

Traditionally, the inalienable civil right of electoral participation, has been constrained to citizens living within the geographical limits of the State. This, however, has been challenged by the dynamic of international migration whose important dimensions have encouraged governments to rethink not only the traditional concept of citizen, but the entire democratic model. Among these countries is Ecuador, a land of emigration due to the 1998’ economic crisis where more than two millions of Ecuadoreans were pushed to migrate mainly to Spain, Italy and the United States. Since 2006, Ecuadoreans abroad have voted in seven national elections, becoming the Latin American country with the highest number of electoral processes abroad. It is also one of the few countries that allowed its migrant citizens to vote for presidential and constituent assembly elections, as well as, the balloting of six representatives of the Ecuadorean diaspora to be part of the National Assembly. This extension of political rights, however, did not enhanced electoral participation as expected; this study identifies four main causes for low electoral participation: the complex system of voting abroad, the disenchantment with Ecuadorean politics, their migratory status and the crisis of identity, typical of those who have migrated. Based on the concept of the right to vote as the mechanism of citizen participation of contemporary democracies and theories of transnationalism, this project analyzes electoral participation of Ecuadoreans in Spain through external voting mechanisms, in order to identify better ways to extend democracy abroad for those who still maintain strong ties with their countries of origin.