Push for non-citizens to receive right to vote in Australian elections

The parliament's electoral matters committee has been urged to consider allowing permanent residency visa holders to vote.

The electoral committee has been urged to consider allowing non-citizens who have lived in Australia for a year the right to vote. Source: AAP

A parliamentary committee reviewing the May federal election has been told more than 2.2 million people living in Australia are being denied a vote because they are not citizens.

French-born graphic designer Sylvain Garcia, who has lived in Australia for eight years, has urged the electoral matters committee to overturn a law change made in 1981 that restricted the right to vote to citizens, rather than permanent residents. 

"Today, at 29 years old, I feel more Australian than French," he wrote in his submission. 

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