With our move to Italy starting in October not only does everyday life shift, but so does the way political participation works. What might initially seem like a loss turns out, on closer inspection, to be a clearly structured coexistence of two systems. What matters less is the right itself than the process of exercising it, because neither Germany nor Italy acts automatically. Anyone who wants to vote needs to understand exactly how the procedures work.
Staying connected to Germany: absentee voting by request only
The option to participate in German Bundestag elections remains available. The key issue is registration. Once there is no longer a residence registered in Germany, individuals are no longer automatically listed in the electoral register. The last German municipality of residence, in this case the city of Solingen, no longer has a current address on file and will not send out any documents on its own.
For voting to be possible at all, an application for entry into the electoral register must be submitted before each election, in this case to the city of Solingen. This application includes the current address in Italy, meaning the address in Pozzuoli. Only on that basis will the municipality send out the absentee ballot documents. Voting takes place entirely by mail. There are no polling stations abroad, and there is no option to cast a vote at an embassy. The completed documents are sent back to Germany and counted there. Without a prior application, none of this process takes place.
Deadlines must be met
Important: deadlines must be observed. The specific election date is always the determining factor. The application must reach the last German municipality of residence in time before the respective election. As a rule, the deadline falls roughly three weeks before election day. In practice, it is advisable to submit the application four to six weeks in advance, leaving enough time for the documents to be sent out and returned.
In Italy: voting in person at the polling station
Once a residence is registered in Pozzuoli , political participation in Italy begins at the local level. For EU citizens, this means that after being entered into the relevant electoral rolls, participation in local elections becomes possible.
These elections work fundamentally differently from those in Germany. There is no absentee voting in this context. Instead, voting takes place in person. After successful registration, a voting notification is received indicating which polling station is responsible. The vote is cast in person at that specific location. Svitlana, as a non-EU citizen , has no voting rights in this area, regardless of how long we have already been living in Italy.
A clear boundary at the national level
National Italian politics remains inaccessible to both of us. Elections to the Italian Parliament as well as referendums require Italian citizenship (more on how to obtain it coming soon here at Vivere in Italien). This rule is unambiguous and leaves no room for interpretation. For the European Parliament elections , there is a choice between two systems. The vote can either continue to be cast via Germany by absentee ballot or, after registration in Italy, in person locally. The two options are mutually exclusive. Svitlana does not participate in European Parliament elections, as she is Ukrainian and therefore not an EU citizen.
The decisive difference after our move lies not in the right itself but in the process. Germany does not send out documents without an application and does not automatically know our address. Italy enables participation at the local level but requires registration and an in-person vote at the polling station. The result is not an automatic process but a system that only functions when actively managed.