Quote:
Originally Posted by Bagor
That is correct.
Why on earth should you have a vote on an issue of such magnitude?
You are not a stakeholder. You abandoned your country. You turned your back on it, walked away from it, You are not qualified to make a decision given that you will not be affected by the outcome. You have nothing invested in the outcome except your emotion.
It is selfish and arrogant to think otherwise.
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I find it hard to justify the voting eligibility criteria in this referendum. Recall: eligible voters in the referendum must be either a British, Irish, or EU citizen resident in Scotland and at least 16 years old.
So Scottish ex-pats are out. I have lots of Scottish coworkers here in England and none of them can vote. I have one mate who had been working in London for the past 6 or 7 years and moved back to Glasgow at the beginning of July (coincidentally, not just to vote), and he was able to vote.
Meanwhile English people living in Scotland can vote (and there are lots of them--on the numerous military bases, or working in the oilpatch or finance, for instance).
Also, there are lots of EU citizens living in Scotland who voted as well. I think a poll revealed that 85% of Poles living in Scotland (the highest non-UK eligible voting nationality) were planning to vote.
So it really is just a snapshot of people who happen to be living in Scotland for a couple of months leading up to 18 September 2014--they might have just arrived, or they might just be on their way out.
Is it right that they and they alone should have the right to vote on an issue of such magnitude (and permanence)?