Is this right?

[JonB]

OK. This is not an immigration for and against thread, this is a thread that accepts the immigration happens and that foreigners live in England. OK? Therefore keep all immigration for/against arguments for somewhere else.

Picture the scene, I live in a flat of students, 6 including me are all English, 1 is a Kenyan bloke.

It's Coventry Local Elections time next Thursday, everybody inc, this bloke gets to vote. A few things I have to clear up here.

You are not allowed to vote in the UK until you are 18 years of age. So that means for most of us, we have had to wait 18 years for a right to have a say on the governments that operate around us.

This guy was able to come into the UK last September and is now able to vote on local matters, I assume if it was a General Election, he'd be allowed to vote as well.

Now i'm OK with him voting...At some point, but with less than year of a residence in the UK he is allowed to vote, I don't believe they should have automatic rights to vote straight away. I know I was sensible enough to vote at 16, yet the law wouldn't allow us. If I were the one making the rules, i'd like a 5 year probation period before immigrants, overseas students et al are allowed to vote, surely then they can get a proper feel for the country AND it's politics herein.

I've looked at both sides of the argument here, he should have the right to vote as he lives here, more so than any ex-pat who moved away from the country but can vote. However, I don't think he should be allowed to vote so quickly.

Opinions?
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[Mister James]

A student visa allows him to vote? That doesn't sound right at all.

From the Council website:

[JonB]

Well those electoral roll forms came through last Oct and he filled one in, he now has a ballot card, so I'm guessing the city council have obviously made a mistake.
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Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[Kickstart]

Hi

From the quote Mister James posted, he may be able to vote because he is from Kenya, which is a member of the Commonwealth.

All the best

Keith
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[Mister James]

D'oh!

Good point Keith - I suppose it depends on how they calculate whether you are a resident. I always thought that you had to have perm. leave to remain, perhaps I was wrong.
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