It's not that unusual for democracies to allow resident non-citizens to vote. The UK's franchise is broad: -- For European Parliament elections, you need to be

It's not that unusual for democracies to allow resident non-citizens to vote. The UK's franchise is broad: -- For European Parliament elections, you need to be UK resident on the day of the election and a citizen of any European country. I think that's pretty similar to the rules in the rest of the EU. -- For local elections, you need to be resident on the day of the election and either an EU or Commonwealth citizen. -- For national elections, you need to be either resident on the day and a Commonwealth or Irish citizen, or you need to be a British citizen who's been resident at some point in the previous fifteen years. -- If you actually want to stand as an MP, you need to be a Commonwealth citizen and resident for the entire term. -- And for ministers, including the Prime Minister, there's no citizenship or residency requirement at all: whoever wins the relevant election or appointment process gets the position. Which made the whole Obama Birther thing seem a bit weird. Admittedly, the UK's history makes it a bit of a special case, but it at least demonstrates that it's possible.