The Persistent Failure to Extend Voting Rights to the Patria Peregrina: the Case of Uruguay

While most Latin American states have recently expanded diaspora engagement through external voting rights, Uruguay remains a notable outlier. Despite being one of Latin America’s most established democracies and illustrating a pathway of diaspora engagement characterized by institutional continuity and symbolic inclusion of emigrants since the mid-2000s, seven legislative attempts to legalize distance voting have failed. This paper aims to investigate whether Uruguay is converging toward the dominant regional pattern of diaspora engagement or maintaining a "durable exceptionality" in electoral inclusion. Using a historical institutionalist framework, the paper analyzes how path dependency and domestic partisan veto points have obstructed policy change. Methodologically, the study employs a longitudinal process-tracing approach, utilizing legislative records, policy documents, and comparative regional data to situate Uruguay within broader Latin American trajectories of diaspora governance. Ultimately looking to contribute to comparative debates on convergence, exceptionality, and the uneven incorporation of citizens abroad.