Electoral Roll - Registration

[ZINX]

Hi,

I just wanted to double check if its for sure that Indian Citizens living in UK on HSMP are entitled to register in Electoral Roll.

I wanted to get registered to Electoral Roll to increase my credit ratings.

But from the information I got on UK Gov website it doesn't look like if I would be able to register.

Though India comes under commonwealth country but by the definition of common wealth citizens(see below) it doesn't look like that Indians are considered as commonwealth citizens.

Anyone who has more info, please let me know. Thanks a lot in advance.


http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/FAQ/RegToVote.cfm

Who can register to vote?

You can register to vote if you are:

* 16 or over (but you can not vote until you are 18).
* A British, Irish Republic or Commonwealth citizen;
* A citizen of a European Union country living in the UK; or
* A citizen of the Channel Islands or Isle of Man living in the UK.


http://www.faststream.gov.uk/index.asp? ... eDocID=141

Commonwealth Citizens
*

Commonwealth citizen means any person who has the status of a Commonwealth citizen under the British Nationality Act 1981. The eligibility criteria under the Act are:

*
British Citizens;
*
British subjects with the right of abode in the UK (this generally applies to people who were born before 1 January 1949 and who had a connection with either British India or the Republic of Ireland);
*
British Overseas Territories citizens (ie people who obtained their citizenship from a connection with a territory which remains a British dependency eg Gibraltar, Bermuda);
*
British Overseas Citizens (ie people who have a connection with a former British colony - for example, Kenya - who did not become citizens of that country when it became independent and did not become British citizens).
*
A further category was added in 1986: British National (Overseas): this applies to former British Dependent Territories citizens connected with Hong Kong.

[andhraguy]

Hi,

Indians can register for vote.. I am an Indian and registered for vote.

Thanks,
Andhra guy

[ppron747]

I get SO irritated by these govt and quasi-govt websites that concentrate on putting the information in "plain English" rather than trying to make it accurate or understandable !!!

I cannot work out from the Electoral Commission's website whether you can vote or not - not because of the fact that you're an Indian, but because the criteria are so sloppily written. According to the list, you only have to be living here if you're an EU citizen, whereas British Irisih and Commonwealth citizens aren't listed as being required to llive here at all - and this can't possibly be right....

Anyway, having got that off my chest (!) I can reassure you on one point at least: the definitive list of "Countries whose citizens are Commonwealth citizens" is in Schedule 3 of the British Nationality Act 1981, and India is definitely in there. The "Faststream" website list you quote may be a list of the specifici categories of Commonwealth citizens who can work in the Civil Service, but it isn't, as it seems to claim, anything like an exhaustive list of Commonwealth citizens.

[ZINX]

ppron747/andhraguy,

Thanks you so much for clearifying this for me. It will help me a lot, thanks once again.

Regards,

[John]

Paul, isn't the point this? When registering to vote you are registering yourself as an elector resident at a particular address. Accordingly I think it is clear that you do actually need to be living in the UK to register. (An exception being that British Citizens formerly living in the UK who have now moved abroad retain a right to vote for 20 years, as if still living at their last UK address.).

[ppron747]

Absolutely, John - when you register to vote. My moan is that the "first-line" information about eligibility for voting doesn't say that. It says that EU citizens have to be living in the UK. It doesn't say the same for Irish, Commonwealth or British citizens...

And is it in any case true that Commonwealth citizens who are in UK on a time-limited basis can registar to vote in UK? If it is, how long is the minimum time? (I don't want answers to there questions - I'm just saying that they should be available on an official website that purports to give information on voting.)

Rant over

[JAJ]

http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/FAQ/RegToVote.cfm

Who can register to vote?

You can register to vote if you are:

* 16 or over (but you can not vote until you are 18).
* A British, Irish Republic or Commonwealth citizen;
* A citizen of a European Union country living in the UK; or
* A citizen of the Channel Islands or Isle of Man living in the UK.

There is no such thing as a "citizen of the Channel Islands or Isle of Man".

Channel Islanders and Manxmen are full British citizens.