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| If you could vote in the last general election, you can vote in the EU referendum.
For people who live in the UK, that means British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens.
You must also be 18 or over on referendum day (23 June) and registered to vote.
For people who live abroad, you can vote if you’re a British citizen or Irish citizen from Northern Ireland who has been registered to vote here in the last 15 years.
If you’re lucky enough to live in Gibraltar or be a member of the House of Lords, you wouldn’t be able to vote in a general election, but you can vote in the referendum.
Who can’t vote?
The flipside of “who can vote” is “who can’t vote”.
And you can’t vote if you’re an EU citizen living here, unless you’re from Ireland, Malta or Cyprus.
British citizens living abroad for more than 15 years can’t vote either. | |
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This advice was given before the Referendum. It, frankly, ignores the question of who will be most affected. A 15+ British expat in Switzerland who intends to return will be much more affected than a 15+ Canadian expat in the UK who also intends to return. But the Canuck votes.
Why did the Irish, the Cypriots or the Maltese get to vote when other EU nationals did not.
As this matter is one of sovereignty then all British, but only the British, above a certain age should have a say.