With the expansion of technology and the growing importance of voting rights, the United States has been providing the opportunity to vote not only to its 9 million citizens living abroad, but also to American citizens living in the International Space Station, about 400 kilometers above the Earth.

For the first time in 1997, American astronaut David Wolf voted from Earth's orbit. Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, who were stuck there along with Don Pettit, who was in the space station last year, also used the facility of 'absentee voting' in the US presidential election. 

Almost 5 million Nepalis are deprived of the opportunity to vote because they are outside the country. Nepal's newly appointed Home Minister Omprakash Aryal has said that after discussions with the Election Commission, the government is preparing to give voting rights to its citizens living abroad and the government is ready to remove related legal and technical obstacles for that.

This system that Nepal has come up with is not new globally. About 141 countries in the world have provided voting facilities to their citizens in different styles and ways. During the time of President Abraham Lincoln (year 1862), the United States made arrangements for citizens who are outside the country to cast an 'absentee vote'. 

After this, Britain in 1918 and Canada in 1942 began to give voting rights to certain groups of their citizens from abroad. In 1955, the then West Germany made it possible to vote by post.

Following that, Australia in 1960, France in 1975, Italy, Spain and Portugal since 1980 have been giving their citizens the opportunity to vote. So far, many countries including South Korea, Philippines, Mexico, India, and New Zealand have arranged important political rights for citizens living in exile. However, the terms and conditions of enjoying this right vary from country to country and from state to state. 

The most widespread use of voting rights is in the United States. Such right has been ensured through the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986. Although each state has its own rules, the United States facilitates various aspects of periodic elections through the Federal Voting Assistance Program.

Although the type of voting facility varies from state to state, Americans are allowed to vote in person or by mail, online, and even those with disabilities and immigrants on or before Election Day. 

Diplomatic missions abroad have made arrangements to collect votes for their citizens in the same country and deliver them to America. US military and overseas personnel living in different states can also vote in presidential and other elections in different ways and within specified time periods. According to the website of the Federal Voting Assistance Program, nearly 2.9 million Americans voted absentee in last year's US presidential election. 

In neighboring India, the system is slightly different. India does not allow citizens living abroad to cast their votes from there, but non-resident Indians can cast their votes in India by appearing in person.

It is estimated that the number of non-resident Indians who can get this right if they are registered in the electoral roll in the region where they have valid passports is more than one lakh. India has not provided online or postal voting facilities for such voters. In recent days, the Election Commission of India, which has been facing continuous controversy regarding electronic voting machines and voters' list, has been talking about allowing voting from abroad, but has not yet made such an arrangement. 

Similarly, Britain has been providing the facility of voting from their place to citizens who are in any corner of the world and are registered in the electoral roll for the past 15 years. Citizens outside the country can exercise this right through the post office or through a trusted person on their behalf. Thus, the number of British people who voted in the 2024 general election from outside the country was about 200,000. 

The situation in France, another strong democratic country, is slightly different. The European country, which has reserved 11 seats for its citizens living abroad in the parliamentary elections, has been giving facilities to the expatriate French to register and participate in the voting process automatically through the consulate of the respective country.

has provided the facility of voting by attending the consulate of the concerned country in person or by post or online. However, what is interesting is that about 1.7 million French people living in exile can only vote in the designated 11 seats, as mentioned in the "How to vote in France" of the European Parliament. This process is different from remaining 566 seats. In 2024, the number of French who voted this way was more than 600,000. 

Germany, another country in Europe, gives voting opportunities to citizens registered in the voter's list while staying in the country, if they go abroad, but such a facility is limited to being able to vote by post. There is data that very few people use this facility in Germany.

In the general election of 2025, out of 3.5 million people who could get such a facility, only one and a half million people used that right. Australia, on the other hand, has been providing facilities for its nearly one million citizens living abroad to vote by attending consulates or by post. It is estimated that about 60,000 Australians used this facility in the last election. 

The countries of Asia, South Korea and Japan, have provided voting rights to citizens living abroad by registering advance lists through their consulates and embassies. There is a rule that South Koreans can only vote in person. According to data, more than 60 percent of Koreans who have been living abroad have used their voting rights in this way in the last general election. Japanese people can also cast their votes from abroad through the post office. It is said that the number of Japanese who take this facility is around 10 percent. 

In addition, European countries Italy, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, South American countries Brazil, Argentina, Chile, African countries South Africa and Kenya, Middle East Turkey and Lebanon along with Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand also provide voting facilities to their citizens abroad in various ways. Israel has provided the facility of voting from abroad, which is available in Canada and Mexico, only for diplomats. 

Among the neighboring countries of Nepal, Sri Lanka has not provided any remote voting facility like Nepal. This facility is available on a limited basis for citizens of Pakistan and Bangladesh. Bhutan has been very restrictive in granting voting rights to only a few Bhutanese living abroad.