Haven't lived in UK or paid tax there since 1980s but I can vote for your government. Thanks!

[MichaelP]

I first came to Australia in 1987 and settled down under shortly afterwards. I haven't lived in Britain for any length of time since then or paid any tax there, but according to this I can (or soon will be able to) vote in their elections. That's very generous of them! But why does the UK government allows foreign residents with no stake in the country to elect their lawmakers? It seems especially odd given that I am treated as a foreigner when it comes to access to education and healthcare in the UK. On my last stint in the UK I couldn't even open a bank account because I was not habitually resident in the UK! I'm sure this is just a gerrymander to get more conservative-voting expats to tip the balance in marginal seats. Not very democratic. People should be able to vote for their leaders, but not other people's leaders. Voting is a privilege that should be earned by residence, not by a birth certificate. It must be especially galling for people in Scotland to know that English expats living thousands of miles away and with no intention of returning will decide who shall rule over them for the next five years.

[ramot]

Might work if you use a proxy vote, but by our experience of the postal vote, it was posted to us inOz 1 week before the election and had to be returned before the Election Day.

What a joke as post from UK takes a minimum of a week to reach us in Oz, so no chance whatsoever to be back in time, and they aren't valid after the election in UK.

 

So unless they sort the system out and post early it's a waste of time.

[Guest]

It is a right of Citzenship - I left Australia in 2013 and I am unlikely to live there again but equally can vote.

 

As as for Scots, I can only speak as a pro-Indy resident of Scotland but the reason the diaspora were not allowed a vote in the referendum is it would have made a Yes vote far more likely so I'm absolutely happy for overseas residents to have a vote!

[Parley]

Might work if you use a proxy vote, but by our experience of the postal vote, it was posted to us inOz 1 week before the election and had to be returned before the Election Day.

What a joke as post from UK takes a minimum of a week to reach us in Oz, so no chance whatsoever to be back in time, and they aren't valid after the election in UK.

 

So unless they sort the system out and post early it's a waste of time.

 

It says you can vote online which would solve your problem, but to be eligible you must have been registered in a UK constituency within the last 15 years.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-residents-overseas-will-be-able-to-vote-in-uks-general-election

[ramot]

It says you can vote online which would solve your problem, but to be eligible you must have been registered in a UK constituency within the last 15 years.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-residents-overseas-will-be-able-to-vote-in-uks-general-election

 

Not sure if you could vote on line before?

We were eligible to vote, but unless we used a proxy, had to laugh that the postal time scale made voting by post impossible.

[Parley]

Actually it is a bit unclear.

It may only be the process to register as a voter that is online, not the final vote itself.

[Parley]

Voting by post or by proxy are the options.

But you can register as a voter using an online process.

@MichaelP, unless you were registered in the UK within the last 15 years you are not eligible to vote.

 

https://www.gov.uk/voting-when-abroad

[newjez]

I first came to Australia in 1987 and settled down under shortly afterwards. I haven't lived in Britain for any length of time since then or paid any tax there, but according to this I can (or soon will be able to) vote in their elections. That's very generous of them! But why does the UK government allows foreign residents with no stake in the country to elect their lawmakers? It seems especially odd given that I am treated as a foreigner when it comes to access to education and healthcare in the UK. On my last stint in the UK I couldn't even open a bank account because I was not habitually resident in the UK! I'm sure this is just a gerrymander to get more conservative-voting expats to tip the balance in marginal seats. Not very democratic. People should be able to vote for their leaders, but not other people's leaders. Voting is a privilege that should be earned by residence, not by a birth certificate. It must be especially galling for people in Scotland to know that English expats living thousands of miles away and with no intention of returning will decide who shall rule over them for the next five years.

 

You're complaining? The Australian govt tried to fine me for not voting in theirs.

[starlight7]

Why would you want to vote if you don't even live there? Beats me.

[Paul1Perth]

Why would you want to vote if you don't even live there? Beats me.

 

Depends how staunch a supporter you are of either party. A lot of people who live in the UK can't be bothered to turn out, so if any party can get a few ex-pats to vote for them it could sway it in their favour.

[ramot]

If you are an expat and only overseas temporarily then it's not odd to want to have a say in the government of the country you will return to is it?

Do Australians have a postal vote if they are temporarily working overseas? or is it peculiar to UK?

 

We are still eligible to vote in UK elections,

We are temporary residents in Oz. All our income comes from UK and we pay UK tax, and kept our house there.

If you have emigrated and taken Australian citizenship (which we can't) then I think your first loyalty should be with Australia.

[Graemsay]

As as for Scots, I can only speak as a pro-Indy resident of Scotland but the reason the diaspora were not allowed a vote in the referendum is it would have made a Yes vote far more likely so I'm absolutely happy for overseas residents to have a vote!

 

I don't know if it would have made that much difference. There are about 5.3 million people living in Scotland, 800,000 Scots in the rest of the UK, and 300,000 overseas. I'm going to assume that the number of voters is proportional to the population size.

 

If every Scot living overseas had voted for Independence then the result would have been about 52% No, 48% Yes. That would have been closer, but not enough to change the result.

 

To win the Yes vote with the whole diaspora then you'd probably need about 75% onside. Given the opinion polls then that would seem unlikely. And it'd get messy trying to figure out who's eligible.

 

That said, if the principle of voting at your last address holds for expats then there might be an argument for giving them the franchise in a referendum.

[Guest]

I don't know if it would have made that much difference. There are about 5.3 million people living in Scotland, 800,000 Scots in the rest of the UK, and 300,000 overseas. I'm going to assume that the number of voters is proportional to the population size.

 

If every Scot living overseas had voted for Independence then the result would have been about 52% No, 48% Yes. That would have been closer, but not enough to change the result.

 

To win the Yes vote with the whole diaspora then you'd probably need about 75% onside. Given the opinion polls then that would seem unlikely. And it'd get messy trying to figure out who's eligible.

 

That said, if the principle of voting at your last address holds for expats then there might be an argument for giving them the franchise in a referendum.

 

You're probably right, I didn't do the sums. I just remember the outrage at the time when it was dictated that only residents could vote, given that's not the case in elections.

 

My main point though was why would Scots in particular not want those living overseas to vote. We still did - with investments in the UK it absolutely mattered to us. I still have business interests in Australia so probably should vote but with the requirement to vote if you are registered it is safer not to.