Vast majority of capital’s foreigners yet to register to vote
Around 70% of people living in Luxembourg City are foreigners and around 90% of them have not yet registered to vote in the local elections
Foreigners have until 17 April to sign up © Photo credit: Guy Jallay
By Thomas Berthol and Heledd Pritchard
The vast majority of foreigners living in Luxembourg City will be excluded from the local elections vote unless they register within the coming three weeks.
Of the 81,000 non-Luxembourgers living in the capital, only around 8,000 have so far signed up to cast their ballot on 11 June to decide who will run the council for the next six years, Luxembourg City Mayor Lydie Polfer said on Tuesday.
The remaining 70,000 have until 17 April to register.
This year marks the first time all residents aged 18 or above can vote or stand in the elections, regardless of how long they have lived in the country.
“It all depends on people’s perspective of life in our city and our country,” Polfer said during a meeting with journalists. “We are not responsible if people do not register. We can offer it all on a plate but people still have to take what’s being offered.”
Around 70% of the capital’s residents are foreigners and it has a “high turnover”, with around 10% of residents leaving the city each year, Alderman Serge Wilmes said. The capital's population grew to 132,800 last year, adding 4,500 new residents, Polfer previously said.
Over the past month almost 2,000 foreigners in the country have signed up after the Integration Ministry launched an awareness campaign called I can vote.
“It’s not a tidal wave but it’s not bad. We’re on an upward slope,” Polfer said.
Overall, around 13% of the 257,000 foreigners living across the country had registered, Family Affairs and Integration Minister, Corinne Cahen, said earlier this month.
The QR code provided by the ministry to help foreigners register © Photo credit: Integration Ministry
