This Vote Story

Welt did a survey poll....which Focus reported upon this morning.

They polled Germans and asked the question....should non-Germans with a visa in Germany...have the right to vote in national elections.  They separated this among political party affiliation.  Roughly 65-percent of Greens and SPD members said 'yes', that non-Germans should be given the right to vote.  Much less so with the CDU, and it was about 97-percent 'no' with AfD members.

Now, you have pause and think over what exactly they are saying.  We aren't talking about refugee folks with zero status.  We are talking about visa-carrying residents of Germany.

Most folks would be shocked to know that out of the 82-million residents in Germany....roughly 6.3-percent carry a visa (2014 numbers).  It probably is closer to 7-percent today, with the inflow of the past 18 months.

Amongst this group of roughly 6-million non-Germans?  Americans, roughly 110,000 (not counting military related personnel).  Brits, roughly 110,000 (not counting military personnel).  Greeks?  Roughly 325,000.   Chinese?  Roughly 115,000 (mostly university students).  Russians?  Roughly 220,000.

These are all people who have a visa and either work, study or are retired in Germany.  I would take a guess in the Wiesbaden-Frankfurt area...that roughly 5,000 of us reside.  Some own businesses....some work for airlines....some work for German technology companies.

There are two ways of looking at this vote question.  Here are a large segment of German society which aren't German, but they pay into the tax revenue pot and the social pension program.  They deserve to have some type of voice.

On the other hand.....you are likely handing out a vote situation which might greatly change the landscape in a couple of German states (NRW stands on this).

Would I want an extra vote?  No.  It's a mess already to vote in US elections and I'd rather not entertain a second vote.

Could this off in weird directions?  Yes.  A great example would be BREXIT and Frankfurt.....if they got the 10,000 London bank jobs, and these people brought 20,000 family members or associates with them.....it would create at least 20,,000 new votes in Frankfurt, and they could go and swing their alliance with some unusual parties (yes, the Tory bunch could actually organize and be a Frankfurt City political entity).

Is it possible that some of the newer folks in Germany with visas might have two or three ID's, and thus end up with two or three visas, and two or three extra votes?  Well, it's best not to bring this up with a German.....they'd get all huffy and aggravated over something they can't fix.

Odds of this happening?  With the current government?  No.....never.  With a SPD-led government?  Maybe.