Electoral Rights and Political Representation
Adopted in 1992, external voting rights have allowed Senegalese abroad to participate in Senegalese presidential and legislative elections since 1993 (Dedieu et al. 2013; Smith 2015a, b). While initially only a handful of communities of Senegalese abroad could participate (for instance, only Senegalese from 15 countries in the 2000 elections), now Senegalese living in 49 countries participate in Senegalese elections. The electoral register for Senegalese abroad compiled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Senegalese Abroad comprises more than 310,000 voters (in 2019), who are required to vote in person at a polling station in the country of residence. In 2016, in line with the argument that the Senegalese abroad constitute “the 15th region of Senegal”, special parliamentary representation for Senegalese abroad was introduced for the first time: 15 of the 165 seats in the National Assembly are now reserved for Senegalese abroad, i.e. just below 10%. The implemention of this major constitutional reform took place during the legislative elections of 2017.21