It might seem peculiar that a young Australian here in Britain on a two-year working holiday is allowed to have a say on whether the UK should leave the European Union. But Michael Ingle, a 27-year-old physiotherapist living in Surrey, defends his right to participate in the 23 June referendum. He says that as a taxpayer, and a citizen of the Commonwealth, what happens to Britain is important to him and will have ramifications for the wider world well beyond the cliffs of Dover. “It’s not just about Britain for me, which is why I’ve taken an interest in it,” Mr Ingle, from Sydney, says. “It’s about the West and the stability of this continent.”
As a hangover from the days of empire, when so-called “British subjects” were included in the parliamentary franchise, Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK without British nationality retain the right to vote in elections.
Estimates based on the 2011 census put the number of Commonwealth citizens eligible to vote in the forthcoming referendum at between 894,000 and more than 960,000. They join Irish citizens as the only non-Brits allowed to vote in what David Cameron has called a “once in a generation” decision.
Full Article: EU referendum: The non-Britons planning to vote – BBC News.