Japan poised to give foreigners voting rights

[The Sushi Bandit]

http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20031020p2a00m0fp015000c.html

More than 1,500 prefectural and municipal governments have adopted resolutions asking the national government to give local electoral rights to foreigners with permanent residency status.

[Maple]

1. Now THAT

is a major step forward!

[InkAddict]

2. Can't get much more liberal than that n/t

[Trek234]

3. The US should do this

Other nations (such as Germany) allow non-citizens to vote. Truly democratic governments should grant voting rights to as many people as possible who reside within its borders.

[Paschall]

4. Caveat

Correct me if I'm wrong: I think you're referring to the EU treaty, which gives EU citizens the right to vote and run for office in the municipal and European elections in the EU country wherey they reside, regardless of their origin.

(Of course, to prevent double voting, if an EU citizen votes in the EU parliamentary elections in a "foreign" country, s/he automatically loses the right to vote in those elections in his/her EU country of origin.)

This is slightly different from the Japanese situation, since all 480 million Europeans within the Union are citizens of that entity.