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My voting slip.
A few days ago, Brian told me that dirty, no-good foreigners will be eligible to vote in Slovenia’s regional elections this Sunday. I assumed he was kidding or crazy (or a healthy mixture of the two) but it turns out he was goddamn right.
This week, to my surprise, I got a call to electoral arms in the mail. So, on Sunday, I will cast my first ever vote in a Slovenian election, ever!
I couldn’t have picked a more challenging one. Whereas Ljubljana is fielding 21 candidates and Celje 41, the Dame on the Drava is boasting 137 — half of them from Glas Žensk (Woman’s Voice), the only party that has more members than people actually voting for it.
What’s also interesting about this election is that I can’t talk about who’s getting my vote, because there’s about one degree of separation between me and a lot of the candidates. That’s the problem with small cities: everyone is so interconnected that things can get sticky very, very quickly. Avoiding conflicts of interest here seems impossible to do.
At any rate, regardless of whether you’re a Slovene or a lousy scumbag foreigner, don’t forget to vote on Sunday. Remember what George Jean Nathan said: “Bad politicians are elected by good citizens who do not vote.”
That’s goddamn right.
* * * *
UPDATE: Comments have been closed, in order to avoid any noncompliance with strict Slovenian electoral laws on “blackouts” before the vote.
Comments
Comments for this post are closed.
I wonder that you, living in Slovenia for quite a long time, still do not recognize that you live in a real democracy.:)
You mean a democracy where I, a Slovenian citizen living abroad, have no way of voting? Sure you can vote by mail, IF you live in Slovenia. I live there just as much as here, just not right now.
Anyone that has an address in Slovenia can vote, but obviously NOT every citizen can.
I’m glad that the law has changed so that also foreigners who live here can decide in what kind of community they wish to live.
To Marko: these are local elections. If you don’t live in any of the communities, how will you choose, for which local community you wish to vote? An ban pet podgan?
I have another “moral” dilemma. I have a voting right in the community I don’t actually live and I don’t have any intentions in ever moving back there again. Could I take the right to decide for any of the option, provided, that I don’t have to live with that choise anyway?
@ cija: I live in Slovenia for about half the year every year, but I’m not at home at the moment (it’s term time) and hence can’t vote, even though the choice will definitely affect me at some point or another. I don’t see the point in being unable to vote by post / at an embassy provided your permanent address is in Slovenia …
@Michael: Where did you get those number from? There are 16 candidates running for mayor in Ljubljana and 30 parties and/or list running for seats in the City Council. “Osrednje-slovenska regija” is NOT the same as Ljubljana. For example in Horjul, which is still n Central Slovenia region, there is only one (yes, one) candidate - so much for democracy in a small community.
But I second your call to vote… Cast it, everyone. Usually refrain from linking content of my firm, but the following IMHO shows why every vote counts.
@Alex: Actually, AFAIK you can vote at an embassy or a consulate. But then again I may be wrong….
I see. it was a misunderstanding, I thought you don’t have a permanent address here. The law says you can vote by mail if you live in a retirement home or you’re in a hospital outside the community of your permanent residence. You should find one retirement home or hospital and register there, then by the letter of law you actually can vote
It doesn’t say that it should be in Slovenia 
I would keep quiet Michael. I think they might have made a mistake! Now that Slovenia has joined the EU, all EU citizens living there must have the right to vote and stand for local elections and European Parliamentary elections. (There is still no EU-wide requirement to allow them to participate in national elections, however.) Still, this right does not apply to third-country nationals - although the UK allows Commonwealth citizens to participate in all elections. Unless you have citizenship of an EU member state, and given that few countries voluntarily extend the right to vote, I think that you will find that the Slovenes have perhaps been mistakenly over generous in extending you the right to vote!
peng: I may be a dirty foreigner, but I can still distinguish Ljubljana from central Slovenia. (When sober) The linked page specifically says Municipality of Ljubljana, and has a list of 21 names for mayor and city council. It’s here. Perhaps some are missing, but there it is.
Jim: Thanks to my Teutonic parents, I have access to a German passport — hurrah!
@Michael: Hahaha, I like the “when sober” part… But the list is wrong because it mixes candidates for mayor and candidates for city council. The correct list of candidates for Mayor of Ljubljana is as follows:
Danica Simsic (incumbent, SD), Zoran Jankovic (independent, supposedly ;)), France Arhar (SLS, SDS, NSi), Jozef Kunic (LDS), Miha Jazbinsek (Zeleni), Francek Rudolf(DeSUS), Luka Novak (EUDS), Zoran Dernovsek (ZNS), Mihael Jarc (LZCPV), Janez Sodrznik (LMM), Jožef Jarh (SED), Karel LipiÄ? (SEG), Marjan Rekar (SNS), Franci Slak (AS), Marko Mitja FeguÅ¡ (LS), Blaž Svetek (Naprej, Slovenija)
Lists of all candidates in Ljubljana are available from Municipal Electoral Committee
Michael, you shouldn’t have admitted you’re actually, really truly German
It’s not as cool as American 
My nationality is a topic of great dispute. My wife’s cousin insists that because my wife is partly Serbian, that I and my children are automatically Serbs. The mix of nationalities in my family is like a case study in globalisation.
Well, in that case you ARE Majkl Manske, possibly also nicknamed Å vaba :-). A very interesting mix, indeed.
Jim: nah, any foreigner with a permanent residence in Slovenia gets to vote. I saw invitations for elections for some Japanese and Korean citizens for the last local elections. This seems only proper, because as Majkl pointed out, these are local communities they are part of as well. Even if they are dirty, no-good foreigners.
The point is, www.lokalnevolitve.si is NOT AT ALL an official source and apparently shouldn’t be trusted. Better look at www.rvk.si.
official number of mayor candidates by municipality, while Delo should be a reliable source for their names
ok, I found it: follow this link from the electoral commission’s website to get all the candidates - it’s the (very nice) official website.
One more note: I believe that you should lock the comments at least for this post between this midnight and Sunday 7pm to avoid any trouble with the law.
Jim: it might be a mistake, but it’s written in the law, so until it’s changed, every non-EU citizen with permanent residence in Slovenia can vote at local elections (but they can’t be candidates)
@Igor: Belive it or not, foreign nationals with permanent residence can also run for office - albeit not the office of mayor. They can, however, run for members of city or municipal councils. And it is only fair - since they live in a given community they can and should decide on local matters.
However, I see no reason to close commenting during electoral silence. A blog is a public space and not a registered media.
MM, that is exactly why Serbs were massively and systematically raping women in Bosnia & Herzegovina during the war in 90’s.
@e-sociolog: What?
@alcessa: I think there’s nothing wrong with being German and almost nothing cooler
@michael: Make shure that you don’t live next door to that ladies from Glas Žensk … they can’t be far in big maribor