Think Australian citizens are the only ones with a right to vote at elections and referendums? Think again.
There are 105,940 voters on the electoral roll who have a 'British subject' notation, according to (AEC) data, and they are allowed to cast a ballot at the upcoming referendum on the .
They are a tiny portion of the 17.5 million registered voters, representing less than 1 per cent.
Inhabitants of Commonwealth countries were once referred to as British subjects. But as the British empire disintegrated, the countries pursued the concept of citizenship.
In Australia, for example, anyone born in Australia before the Nationality and Citizenship Act came into effect on 26 January 1949 was a British subject. It was also possible to be both an Australian citizen and a British subject.
The Act was amended over the years, and changes in 1984 abolished the concept of British subjects and made it so those who were could not vote until they became Australian citizens.
But voting rights were maintained for British subjects who were enrolled to vote federally before 26 January 1984, meaning they, like Australian citizens, are required to vote at elections and referendums.
The electoral watchdog said if a British subject on the electoral roll becomes an Australian citizen then their enrolment is updated to reflect this, but Professor Graeme Orr, a political law expert at the University of Queensland, believes that number is likely to be lower.
"That hundred thousand would likely include quite a few people who have taken out citizenship since then but who haven't bothered to tell the electoral commission," Orr said.
Victoria had the highest number (28,510) of federally enrolled British subjects, according to the AEC data. There were 26,630 in NSW, 20,150 in Queensland, 13,840 in Western Australia, 12,800 in South Australia, 2,890 in Tasmania, 720 in the ACT, and 400 in the Northern Territory.
They are no younger than 55 years old, and almost 40 per cent of them are aged 75 years and older.
Source: SBS News
"But I imagine the hundred thousand would skew towards people from England and New Zealand."
The issue of British subjects having voting rights briefly became a topic of debate in 2009 when a joint standing committee examining the 2007 federal election released its report. It contained remarks from the committee's chair Daryl Melham, a Labor MP at the time, who said it was time to examine whether it was appropriate to maintain them.
There were about 163,000 British subjects on the electoral roll at the time and Melham believed it was unfair they were able to cast a ballot when other non-citizens could not, according to media reports from that year.
He also believed their votes could be decisive in federal elections in some marginal seats.
But when it comes to the Voice to Parliament referendum, Orr did not believe this would be the case.
"I don't think it can affect the referendum because we're not talking about 1000-vote margins," he said.
In order , a double majority must be achieved — meaning an overall majority and a majority in at least four states.
Polling with the latest from YouGov, released on Wednesday, suggesting No support was at 53 per cent compared to 38 per cent for Yes and 9 per cent undecided.
A Resolve Political Monitor poll published in Nine newspapers in early September suggested Tasmania was the only state where the Yes vote was ahead (56-44). The No vote had support of at least 56 per cent in all other states, except Victoria where it was 51 per cent.
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