First, the right to vote was based on property ownership: to be eligible to vote, an individual had to own a freehold (land free of all duties and rents), and this freehold had to generate a minimum annual revenue of 40 shillings, or £2 sterling; this immediately excluded a large segment of the population.
Mais ce n’est qu’en 1847 que Londres accorde aux assemblées coloniales le droit de fixer elles-mêmes les règles de naturalisation de leurs immigrants, leur donnant ainsi pleine juridiction pour déterminer qui aura le droit de vote.