Voice Through Votes and Remittances: Diaspora Efforts to Influence Elections

Abstract

The increasing political inclusion of diaspora populations around the world has raised questions about their influence on electoral outcomes back home. In Kenya, emigrants have advocated for direct influence through external voting rights, while less attention has been given to the ways in which they may also indirectly influence elections through economic remittances. In this research note, we explore diaspora efforts to influence elections through the perspectives of domestic voters, which are often overlooked in the literature on diaspora voting. We surveyed a nationally representative sample of eligible voters within Kenya prior to the August 2022 presidential election and posed parallel questions to a smaller sample of diaspora Kenyans. Domestic voters strongly support direct diaspora participation in elections for president, but not for lower-level offices. Our survey results also indicate that roughly one of every seven eligible voters in Kenya was encouraged to vote in the 2022 election by friends and family abroad from whom they receive remittances. Thus, emigrants may have more influence on elections through their connections at home than through their direct votes. Drawing on the Kenyan case, we explore some directions for future research on transnational citizenship and voting rights.