Give asylum seekers the vote, says SNP minister
REFUGEES and asylum seekers could be given the right to vote in Scottish elections.
A public consultation launched last year suggested that the voting franchise for Scottish parliament and council elections should be extended to ‘everyone legally resident in Scotland’.
Under the current rules only British, Commonwealth and EU citizens who are resident in Scotland and are aged 16 or older can vote in Holyrood and local authority elections.
Yesterday, Parliamentary Business Minister Joe FitzPatrick told MSPs: ‘It is right that people who make their lives here and contribute to society should have the right to vote, wherever they are from.
‘The responses to the consultation are still being analysed but the initial indication is that there is overwhelming support for the Scottish Government’s position.
‘In my view, people who have been welcomed here as refugees and people who are going through the process of seeking asylum should be included.
‘Scotland is a welcoming country and our intention to extend the opportunity to vote to all those who are legally resident
‘Scotland is a welcoming country’
here, whatever their place of birth, should include refugees and asylum seekers.’
Two-thirds of MSPs would have to vote for the changes before they can be enacted, Mr FitzPatrick said.
Scottish Greens MSP Ross Greer said: ‘Giving refugees and asylum seekers the right to vote will go some way in showing that they are truly welcome and that Scotland is their home.’
Earlier this month, it emerged that an SNP-led committee was set to recommend allowing all prison inmates to vote – meaning killers, rapists and other serious offenders would no longer be barred from the ballot box.
Members of Holyrood’s equalities and human rights committee admitted they ‘did not hear directly from victims of crime’ before making their recommendations.
Days later, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon rejected demands to give every prisoner the vote – but said she would consider allowing some inmates to take part in elections. She told MSPs: ‘I am not of the view that should lead to the enfranchising of all prisoners. I am sceptical, to say the least, that complying with the European Convention on Human Rights requires all prisoners to have the right to vote.’