Campaigners are making a final call to British expats to register and vote in the EU Referendum on June 23rd.
This follows an Electoral Commission survey that showed that over half of Brits abroad don’t know that they can register to vote online and that they should do so by 16th May.
George Cunningham, Chair of the Brussels and Europe Liberal Democrats and expat campaign group “Brits Abroad: Yes to Europe”, said:
‘Unlike other elections, every vote will count in the referendum. British expats should not assume that someone else will carry theirs for them.
With the ‘Remain’ and ‘Leave’ polls neck and neck, we cannot take anything for granted. Expats should register to vote straight away and certainly by 16th May’.
There are around 5.5mn Brits living across the world. Roughly half (2.2mn) are in EU countries, of whom around 800,000 can no longer vote, having lived outside the UK for more than 15 years.
Harry Shindler, a 94 year old Second World War veteran, and lawyer and Belgian resident Jacquelyn MacLennan launched the legal challenge to the 15 year rule that bans long term British expats from voting in UK elections and referenda. Both now are calling on all eligible British expats to register to vote by 16th May.
Harry Shindler said:
‘As someone who has lost my vote, I urge any Brit abroad who still has theirs to exercise this precious democratic right. Our future and that of our country and its place in the world are at stake’.
Grahame Pigney, co-founder of “Say Yes 2 Europe - Remain in the EU”, said:
‘With this referendum debate increasingly focusing on immigration and EU Freedom of Movement, UK citizens living in other EU countries would clearly be affected by the consequences of a Brexit. All those who are able to vote should do so to make sure their voice is heard in this important poll, and to support those who are disbarred from voting.’
The legal challenge to the EU Referendum franchise continues. The franchise prevents hundreds of thousands of UK Citizens living in the rest of the EU from voting on what happens to their rights to continue to do so.
Expats urged to register by 16th May ‘deadline’
The Electoral Commission is encouraging eligible UK Citizens living overseas to register by 16th May in order to allow time for their postal votes to arrive. Those who want to register to vote can do so at:
Another helpful resource is Vote-eu-referendum.com
Am I eligible to vote?
Currently only UK Citizens who have lived less than fifteen years outside of Great Britain or Northern Ireland (and are registered in their original constituencies) have the right to vote. The government is proposing to change the rule so that all non-residents have the right to vote, but the Liberal Democrats’ recent motion to enable all expatriate voters to vote in the referendum was defeated in the House of Lords.
