‘We have to question whether democracy is living up to its name when over four million people are excluded from voting.’
Millions of residents in the UK cannot vote in elections due to the country’s “complex and contradictory” voting rules.
A new report commissioned by the Migrant Democracy Project highlights the scale of disenfranchisement among foreign citizens in the UK.
An estimated 4.4 million residents are not able to vote in Parliamentary elections due to strict eligibility criteria.
Even in local elections, where the rules are less restrictive, 1.2 million people remain unable to vote.
On average, 6,676 residents per English Westminster constituency are unable to vote.
The constituency with the highest number of disenfranchised residents is Kensington and Bayswater, with 32,980 foreign citizens unable to vote.
In general elections, only British, Irish or qualifying Commonwealth citizens can vote.
The Scottish and Welsh Parliaments have control over the franchise for local elections in their respective areas.
EU citizens could historically vote in local elections in the UK. However, following Brexit, devolved governments have taken different approaches.
Since Brexit, the UK government has signed bilateral treaties with some, but not all EU countries, to allow mutual voting rights in local elections to continue.
Scotland and Wales have granted all foreign citizens with legal residency the right to vote in national and local elections.
The report, What if everyone could vote?, argues that simplifying voting rules and introducing residence-based voting would give millions of UK residents a political voice, creating a more inclusive democracy and making elections easier for electoral officials to administer.
The Migrant Democracy Project points out that residence-based voting has long existed in the UK for citizens from Commonwealth countries who can immediately participate in Westminster elections upon arrival.
Commenting on the report, Lara Parizotto, Executive Director of the Migrant Democracy Project, said: “We have to question whether democracy is living up to its name when over four million people are excluded from voting.
“This report exposes the huge democratic gap where some migrant communities have full voting rights while millions of others have no right to vote at all. The UK must urgently follow the examples of Scotland and Wales and extend the right to vote to all.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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