Mongolians living and working abroad still cannot fully exercise their constitutional right to vote. Since 2000, they have requested the opportunity to vote and participate in parliamentary elections. In response, the Mongolian Parliament addressed the issue in 2005, and in 2012, the legal right for Mongolians abroad to vote was established.
As a result, Mongolians overseas could register in person at diplomatic missions in their host countries and cast their votes. However, this process remained cumbersome, leading to low participation and poor voter turnout.
To address this, for the 2024 parliamentary elections, the General Election Commission, for the first time, introduced online registration to enhance participation among the over 200,000 Mongolian citizens living and working in more than 80 countries. Despite this, the requirement to vote in person persisted. Specifically, out of 13,095 overseas citizens registered online for the 2024 elections, only about 50%, or roughly 6,000, cast their votes. Compared to 2020, when 4,600 Mongolians abroad registered to vote, and 3,200 voted, online registration was successful, but the in-person voting requirement continued to hinder participation and engagement.
For instance, in 2024, ministry representatives studied Estonia’s experience. Estonia was the first country to introduce online voting for national elections in 2005. By 2023, 51% of Estonian votes were cast online, the highest rate globally, using the i-Voting system.
Тухайлбал, ЦХИХХЯ-ны төлөөлөл 2024 онд сонгуулийн санал өгөх цахим системийг нэвтрүүлсэн анхны улс болох Эстонид туршлага судалсан. Эстони улс 2005 онд дэлхийд анх удаа үндэсний сонгуульдаа интернэтээр санал өгөх системийг нэвтрүүлж, 2023 онд иргэдийнх нь саналын 51% нь цахимаар ирсэн нь дэлхийн хамгийн өндөр үзүүлэлт болсон. Тус улс i-Voting системийг ашигладаг.
The ministry plans to observe and learn from the Philippines’ electoral process.
The Philippines will conduct its 2025 elections on May 12, with online voting. The Philippine Election Commission has ensured voting rights for 1.2 million citizens across 77 countries, starting online voting on April 13. Pre-registration was conducted online, with end-to-end encryption and blockchain-based data protection to ensure vote confidentiality.
As of 2023, over 10 countries have either tested or formally implemented online voting for their citizens abroad in some form.
