Introduction Section 2: Entitlement to vote in the referendum
10. Section 2 provides for who is entitled to vote in the referendum. Under subsection (1)(a) a person is entitled to vote in the referendum if, on the date of the referendum, he or she would be entitled to vote at a parliamentary election. That is British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens over the age of 18 who are resident in the United Kingdom, and British nationals resident overseas for less than 15 years, provided they appear on the register of Parliamentary electors.
11. Subsection (1)(b) enables a peer, who is disqualified by common law from voting at Parliamentary elections, to vote in the referendum if, on the date of the referendum, he or she would be entitled to vote at a local government election.
12. Subsection (1)(b) also enables a peer to vote in the referendum if he or she is entitled to vote at a European Parliamentary election by virtue of section 3 of the Representation of the People Act 1985. This latter category comprises peers who are resident outside the United Kingdom.
13. Subsections (1)(c) and (2) further extend the franchise to include Commonwealth citizens and citizens of the Republic of Ireland who, on the date of the referendum, would be entitled to vote in Gibraltar at a European Parliamentary election.