Voting from Abroad in the Postcommunist World: Elections and Labour Migration in Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

Using census materials, electoral laws and voting results from polling stations [uchastki] abroad, this study reveals the ways in which the Kyrgyzstani experience with expatriate voting aligns with, and diverges from, that of other labour-exporting countries, including those in the postcommunist world. A central concern of the article is explaining how and why Kyrgyzstan exhibited significant variation from 2010 to 2021 in rules and behaviour relating to voting from abroad (VFA). The study also illustrates that the electoral behaviour of the Kyrgyzstani diaspora is far from uniform across space as well as time.