Can Australians still vote in UK general elections? If so, why and how many Aussies voted in the 2001 election?

eschatologist

No. Although having some government connections, each nation's populos votes for their own leaders. May 05 05, 9:04 PM

peasypod

Not sure about how the duel citizenship thingy works between us Aussies and Britain, but with Italy they always find the time to send out the required invitation begging for me to vote in their elections. May 05 05, 9:24 PM

lammas1

Yes. The form that is sent round each year to all households in the UK to update the voting register says that any citizen of the UK, Southern Ireland, or any Commonwealth country (which of course includes Australia) can vote in UK national elections. May 06 05, 8:41 AM

sue943

Presumably they can only vote in the UK while they are residing in the UK. May 06 05, 8:45 AM

gmackematix

The answer to the first part is yes. As Lammas says, any member of a Commonwealth country (Australians, Canadians, Indians and so on) can vote in a UK general election so long as they register from a UK address. Of course, only British citizens can register to vote from a foreign address in a UK election. Why this agreement exists or whether many Aussies have voted in any UK elections, I can't say. May 06 05, 6:42 PM

mumby21

My mother, brother and I all hold dual British/Australian citizenship and we have never been notified about being able to vote in UK elections. When my half sister arrives here from Southern Ireland in June, I must ask her if she votes in the UK elections, she being closer to "home" so to speak. I have lived her for 47 years yesterday but have only been an Aussie citizen for a quarter of that time but as soon as I set foot on Australian soil I felt I belonged and anyway even being a British subject I was still eligible to vote, when I came of age. May 07 05, 6:26 AM

gmackematix

I suppose all this means that UK General Elections have the largest potential electorate of any election in the world! May 07 05, 9:01 AM

gmackematix

Just to show that this is still true three years on, here is an appeal for Australian voters in the 2010 UK general election. http://www.alp.org.au/your-vote-can-make-difference-uk-general-election-6-may May 05 10, 5:30 PM