Why are International Students(non-citizens) Allowed to Vote In UK election? (turns out they were co

Thread title explains it.

I am at university, and everyone in the halls of residence was given a voting card, many voted.

Including international students!!

This made me very angry.

Why should people who are not citizens, are only in the country for 3 or so years, have the same democratic rights as British citizens?

Especially when they will not have to live with the decisions they make and they will be much less likely to care.

Another major problem with this, and the probable reason why they are allowed to vote, is that they vote for the party with the best tuition fees policy, namely Labour.

I think this is outrageous, and I have heard nothing of it in the media.



[edit on 7-5-2010 by asd10]

Non-citizens are not allowed to vote.

What you saw were officials passing out voting cards, needed to vote. However, that alone does not allow you to vote. It would be too time-consuming for the people passing out the cards to know ahead of time whether or not someone is eligible to vote.

This is how I understand it. In the U.S. for example, anyone can get a copy of the ballot ahead of time. But this does not mean that that person is eligible to vote in the actual election.

Who can vote in UK general elections
You can vote in UK general elections once you are on the electoral register and provided that you are also:

•aged 18 or over on polling day
•a British citizen, or a Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Irish Republic (living in the UK)
•not legally excluded from voting (for example, if you are in prison)

Source: www.direct.gov.uk...

Like I said, this is how I understand what happened, but I am in the US.Emphasis added by me.

haha why does this not surprise me. The UK has so much to learn about democracy and how it works. America is the country that fought and died to invent democracy for the world. Its no wonder that the carbon copies are a lesser form of true freedom then we experience here on a daily basis.

Im shocked that foreigners can participate though. Then again I mean in the long run it doesnt make much of a difference. I will say one thing to help ease your mind and make you feel better. If their in university with you at least their smarter then the rest of the unwashed masses. So they probably i have a good idea of whats going on. Hope that helps and good luck with school!

Originally posted by tigpoppa
haha why does this not surprise me. The UK has so much to learn about democracy and how it works. America is the country that fought and died to invent democracy for the world. Its no wonder that the carbon copies are a lesser form of true freedom then we experience here on a daily basis.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Oh wait....your serious?

Let me laugh even harder!

Yeah the good ol' US of A knows a hell of a lot about democracy!

I don't think so somehow.

[edit on 7/5/10 by Kram09]

International student friends of mine can and did vote successfully.

So the government is obviously not enforcing the rules.



[edit on 7-5-2010 by asd10]

reply to post by tigpoppa

haha why does this not surprise me. The UK has so much to learn about democracy and how it works. America is the country that fought and died to invent democracy for the world. Its no wonder that the carbon copies are a lesser form of true freedom then we experience here on a daily basis.

No.

Ancient Greece invented democracy in the form we know it today, and the USA was based on the principles of English democracy. Although it turned out very different.

However I do agree the democracy here is an illusion

It's not different here in the states. We have non citizens vote, people vote multiple times, and people vote in more than one state. We even have dead people vote....vote early vote often was I guess meant as a joke, unfortunately, its fact and not a joke.

[edit on 7-5-2010 by adifferentbreed]

Originally posted by asd10

Why are International Students(non-citizens) Allowed to Vote In UK election?

It's political correctness gone mad, mad I tells ya!!


EDIT: what countries were the international students from?

[edit on 7/5/10 by pieman]

You sure you weren't voting for your Student Representative Council president or social conveyor?

I've worked as a ballot officer and I can say for a fact that non UK citizens are not allowed to vote - heck even some UK citizens in Sheffield weren't able to vote this time around.

You have misconstrued something somewhere.

Ask your...er....International friends what they were voting for.

-m0r

I think its because they are commonwealth in fact.

Still stupid in my opinion though.

Originally posted by tigpoppa
America is the country that fought and died to invent democracy for the world.

Obama got a free election so that is a good look at democracy for mugabe and others. How obama talked down to iran when his election was absolutely fixed for him, is bizarre. Reps gave him the election.

Thats democracy american style.

I'm Norwegian/Finnish ... and I voted yesterday in the UK election.

The law allows it. Brits living in other EU countries can do the same.

So. The problem is what, exactly ?

First and foremost, i read blogs, articles and educative literatures online, but I never contribute to these chats, blogs etc. Because I believe majority of these sites are filled with uneducated, misinformed egoistic people. I was actual researching something when I stumbled across this website (Especially this thread- Why are International Students(non-citizens) Allowed to Vote In UK election? (turns out they were co]) . So I decided to join specifically to enlighten the instigator of this topic and some other people that also contributed ignorantly to the topic.
Ok, my first point- My perception of this website or forum is that it is GOOD, RESPECTABLE & ASIPIRING TO BE GREAT. (I LOVE the slogan “DENY IGONORANCE”). I think it is about time the author of this topic to paid attention to this SLOGAN.

My second point- Highlighting your quote “Why should people who are not citizens, are only in the country for 3 or so years, have the same democratic rights as British citizens? ”. You sounded so ignorant and naïve because if you knew the rules, regulations and law that governs the United Kingdom. You would have gone to the right source to get the right information. For example you would have gone to the officially UK government website to see who was eligible to vote. Just to help you out here: www.aboutmyvote.co.uk... , you would have learnt that some international students are ELIGIBLE to vote especially if they are resident in the UK and are from the COMMONWEALTH countries. They might not be a citizen of United Kingdom they are effectively a citizen of the COMMONWEALTH COUNTY. A resident is someone that presumed to live in a county and pay taxes. If they leave in this county they would pay various taxes from road tax to capital gains tax (For those doing business while studying in the UK). So they have the right to choose whoever would favour their political persuasions.

My Third point if you were aware of the influence of the CROWN and the BRITISH EMPIRE as a whole. You will not come up with such statements. Just to further enrich your political knowledge on Commonwealth- The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states. All but two of these countries (Mozambique and Rwanda) were formerly part of theBritish Empire, out of which it developed. The member states cooperate within a framework of common values and goals as outlined in the Singapore Declaration. These include the promotion of democracy, human rights, good governance, the rule of law, individual liberty, egalitarianism, free trade, multilateralism, and world peace. The Commonwealth is not a political union, but an intergovernmental organisation through which countries with diverse social, political, and economic backgrounds are regarded as equal in status. (en.wikipedia.org...).

My final point- Also addressing your quote “Especially when they will not have to live with the decisions they make and they will be much less likely to care. “ If you fully understand the definition of “Commonwealth” then you will know that some decisions they make in the UK will definitely affect them in their home country. In terms of, free trade, world peace and other important issues. As you are aware both LABOUR PARTY and CONSERVATIVE PARTY have different views on these issues. Voting for a particular party does not have to revolve round tuition fees.

I would also highlight your naïve quote “Another major problem with this, and the probable reason why they are allowed to vote, is that they vote for the party with the best tuition fees policy, namely Labour. ” Just for the record, the tuition fee policies does not affect international student because they pay a fixed and steep tuition fee. Averaging between £8000 to £15000 a year, contributing to the BRITISH economy. The tuition fee debate and policy only relates to home students. So get your FACTS right. Rather than getting angry. Get to work do your homework and learn about United Kingdom.

Originally posted by tigpoppa
haha why does this not surprise me. The UK has so much to learn about democracy and how it works. America is the country that fought and died to invent democracy for the world. Its no wonder that the carbon copies are a lesser form of true freedom then we experience here on a daily basis.

Im shocked that foreigners can participate though. Then again I mean in the long run it doesnt make much of a difference. I will say one thing to help ease your mind and make you feel better. If their in university with you at least their smarter then the rest of the unwashed masses. So they probably i have a good idea of whats going on. Hope that helps and good luck with school!

I always thought the Greeks invented democracy? Why is the British parliament called the 'mother of parliaments'?

Thank You...... They are just IGNORANT.

If this is true, then the Law is being broken. No over seas students are allowed to vote in UK Elections since they were not born or are not UK Citizens.

Makes one wonder why this has not risen some eyebrows wither or not they are being allowed to participate in any elections what so ever.

This needs to be brought to someone's attention for further clarification.



Is there any links to any article with regards to this?

reply to post by Laurauk


That isn't true, Commonwealth and Irish Republic citizens (although the latter must reside in the UK) may also vote in UK elections.