(iPoster) DEPART: Dataset on Electoral Participation Abroad for Registration and Turnout

• In Event: Poster Sessions: Law and Courts & Elections and Voter Behavior
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Elections and Voter Behavior

Abstract

This paper introduces DEPART, an original global dataset on the electoral participation of nonresident citizens in countries that have extended voting rights to citizens abroad. Moving beyond legal provisions, the dataset systematically collects election-level data on nonresident voter registration and turnout for legislative and executive elections, along with key contextual measures such as voting-age population and emigration rates. Data are compiled primarily from official election authorities and complemented by regional and international observer organizations and media reports. DEPART builds on and extends existing regional and global datasets, addressing a persistent gap in research on turnout and democratic inclusion that still focuses largely on voters residing within state borders. Nonresident citizens are numerous enough to influence electoral outcomes and constitute a considerable share of the voting-age population in many cases. By systematically documenting how registration and turnout among nonresident citizens vary across time, regime types, and electoral contexts, DEPART provides new leverage to study what these patterns imply for democratic inclusion, electoral strategy, and transnational citizenship.

Author

• Muge Uguz, George Washington University