A CONTROVERSIAL campaign is urging people to give their general election vote to someone in Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Ghana.

Give Your Vote allows people from the three countries affected by UK policies to have a vote in the election.

Participants text their vote to a local number, which will be sent to people in the UK who have pledged to vote on their behalf.

Fanny Rhodes-James, of Ballast Quay, Greenwich, has joined the campaign.

She said: “I’m giving my vote as an act of solidarity with people around the world affected by my government.

“I want them to know people in the UK see them as equals. I’m not giving something away – I am making my vote more powerful.”

The 23-year-old student added: “Its given me a fresh look a what the parties are offering to the world and not just to me personally.”

Co-coordinators in each country have been informing people about the foreign policies of the three main parties.

The leaders’ television debates were also streamed live to the capital cities Kabul, Accra and Dhaka.

Campaign co-ordinator James Sadri said: “Elections are a time when we should be debating the real political issues - like why do 20,000 children die every day because of hunger, when there is enough food for everyone?

“We live in an interconnected world, but because our politics is local, the issues which get debated and discussed are parochial.”

For more information, visit giveyourvote.org