One of my Facebook friends, a childhood friend who to be honest is probably slightly mentally challenged (she was always in special ed) is married to a man who is a permanent U.S. resident. He wanted to vote in today’s municipal election, and they wouldn’t let him. You’d think after having lived here 12 years, he would know that, but I guess it was the first time he had tried to do that.
She just posted a diatribe on Facebook about how “It’s not for president anyway! He works and pays taxes here, and he should be able to vote like everyone else. The illegals get everything and they get to vote, don’t they?” (paraphrasing)
Um, no, the illegals don’t get to vote either, unless the system is extremely corrupt.
In the UK, different types of people can vote for different things.
European Union citizens resident in the UK can (IIRC) vote for anything apart from Members of Parliament itself - so European Parliament, local councils, and any devolved assemblies.
Referendums depend on the enacting legislation for that vote.
Commonwealth citizens and Republic of Ireland citizens can vote in general elections. Commonwealth citizens cannot vote for the European Parliament.
Members of the House of Lords also cannot vote in general elections.
If he’s a permanent resident and has been living in te US for 12 years, then he should be able to become a US citizen, after filling in the right forms and paying a fee.
(I lived in the US for 12 years and paid my taxes, but I couldn’t vote. What annoyed me was that I couldn’t vote in Australia either, even though I still owned a house in Australia.)
There are a couple of states where noncitizen permanent residents can vote in municipal and county elections. Can’t remember what they are off the top of my head.
I don’t know where I fall on this issue exactly, but part of me thinks that if the guy wants to be a part of our democracy so badly, why is this is first time attempting to do so in 12 years?
I suspect this is the first time there has been a contentious municipal election wherever he lives. Or maybe he thought there was a 10 year residency requirement or something.
This happened to a friend of mine in Ontario. After voting in multiple elections he discovered one year that he was actually ineligible. I guess it depends on who you get at the registration table.
He does? I’ve lived here for 19 years and I’m not a citizen. It has nothing to do with not wanting the benefits, just that $700 is a lot of money when you’re paying off a mortgage and student loans and what not.
General elections in the UK are to select members of the House of Commons only. Lords are not entitled to serve or vote for the commons since they are (at least in theory) already represented in government.