Who should vote? Membership and claims to expatriate political participation in the Nigerian diaspora

While no longer present in their home state, emigrants generally retain political membership; but should they retain all the rights and privileges? A key question is emigrants’ right to political participation in their country of origin – the right to vote and the right to run for political office. While previous research has examined the normative implications and factors contributing to the spread of expatriate voting rights, less is known about the opinions of emigrants who would gain the franchise and those who did not migrate. Using a unique survey of the Nigerian diaspora in 11 countries around the world and a sample of “Nigerians at Home,” we find that, counterintuitively, those “at home” generally support expatriate political participation more than the emigrants themselves. Our analysis further suggests that a strong belief in a territorially unbounded global diaspora population is one important source of this support. Absence from the territory elicits contradictory reactions: for those abroad it weakens claims to participation, at the same time those in Nigeria that see free speech under attack see the diaspora as a voice that can speak on their behalf.