Procedure and House Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I would like to thank the committee for inviting me to speak about the French experience. I will be as brief as possible, and I will then answer your questions. Since the Fifth Republic in France, in other words since 1958, the constitution has allowed all French citi

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely not. They are on the national territory.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It depends on the election. It is difficult to estimate the number of voters based on whether the votes were cast abroad or by proxy in France. I would simply like to correct what Professor Frank just said. During a legislative election, for instance, French citizens may choose

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Those citizens who are registered on the electoral lists abroad. I don't have exact numbers, but they are significant numbers, which can make a difference during an election.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It is the national territory.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely because registration on the list is what gives the right to vote.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. The list is verified every year on December 31. It is consolidated internationally every year on December 31 in order to be validated centrally in Paris. That's the list that will be valid for all elections for the following year. However, as mentioned, in our system, citiz

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It's not a birth certificate you need to present. It is a familial link with a person, a voter, in that riding.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  For instance, if your father, your son, or your daughter is a voter in one riding, then you can register in that riding.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes, as proof of residence. You have many expatriates who have not kept a home, an apartment, a residency in their country of origin, but they have family and they can opt to link the right to vote to the riding of that family.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It is under way. Obviously there are security issues to avoid fraud related to identity documents, but we now have the opportunity to do it. With the French ministry of the interior, the ministry of foreign affairs is in the process of defining the perimeter of the information sy

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Absolutely.

Procedure and House Affairs committee  It would be at the embassy or consulate. With your question, I can announce that, as part of the reforms that the government is preparing for the end of the year or early next year, a French citizen living abroad will be able to register electronically. In other words, we are go

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Yes. Once again, we need to make a clear distinction between the registry for declaration of residency abroad and registration on the electoral list. For example, businessmen from Singapore and China often settle in Canada. They register on the registry in Canada and must then s

Procedure and House Affairs committee  Currently, they can do so only for two types of election: in legislative elections of members for French citizens living abroad and the democratic local entities created for them, which we call consular councils. For those two elections, Internet voting is permitted. The governme