If you are a non-UK EU CITIZEN and you are NOT registered you need to register NOW to vote in the EU Parliamentary Elections.
All EU Citizens, including those from other EU Member States, can vote in the EU Elections, and in local elections too (if you are not already registered you are too late to register for the Local Elections on 2 May).
Are you or anyone that you know who lives here a citizen of an EU Member State other than the UK? If so, are you/they all registered to vote in the Elections to the EU Parliament on 23 May?
Are you sure? Some of you don’t know that.
EU27 citizens need to do two things in order to be able to vote in European Parliamentary elections.
- They have to be on the electoral register
- They also have to complete a form to confirm that they will only be voting in the UK and not in their own member state.
Many EU27 citizens are unaware of this requirement and Electoral Registration Officers around the UK may have done little or nothing to inform them about it (there is evidence that some do and some don't).
Eligibility of EU 27 citizens to vote in the European elections fell to 327,833 in 2014 from the previous level of 1,043,629 in 2009. We only have three weeks to try to stem and reverse that trend.
What to do
EU27 citizens are required to fill in two forms to register for European elections.
The first is an online form via the Government website, to register as an elector.
The second is a paper form downloaded from the Electoral Commission website and that confirms that the EU27 citizen will be voting in European elections in the UK and only in the UK.
Many EU 27 citizens will be denied the vote unless we can reach them with a message to remind them to complete the second form, the EU citizens European Parliament voter registration form.
The Electoral Commission has failed to reform the registration process thoroughly and in a way the would avoid the risk that EU27 citizens will lose their right to vote.
The only realistic way to achieve this in the short time available is to insist that Electoral Registration officers write to EU27 citizens in their areas who are already on the register which is used for local elections (where EU27 citizens also have the right to vote) but who may not have filled in the additional form that only EU27 citizens need to complete to register for European elections.
It falls to us and to other civil society organisations to make sure EU27 citizens in the UK can exercise their right to vote have. That right to vote is needed today more than ever before."
So we are asking our members and supporters to help us contact all 380 Electoral Registration Officers in the UK to confirm they have done so.
What you can do to help
1) Write to your Electoral Registration Officer at your local authority
Ask them to confirm that they have written to all EU27 citizens in the local area informing them of the registration requirements for the European elections and enclosing a copy of the EU citizens' European Parliament voter registration form and a FREEPOST return envelope.
Here is a sample letter:
2) Remind your contacts who are EU27 citizens to register to vote
If you have a friend or acquaintance who is an EU27 citizen in the UK and may not have registered for the European elections, please share these links so they can do so.
If you are a member of a community association or campaign group, please do the same and help spread the word and the links below.
a) REGISTER ONLINE
You can do this via the Government website:
Click here
b) RETURN PAPER FORM
Download, complete, sign and return this form
OR
You can use the QR Code here (if you know how to do that)
Send the form to to your electoral registration office. If you live in England or Wales, this is at your local council. If you live in Scotland, please return this form to your electoral registration officer, who may be located in a separate office. In either case, you can find their address at yourvotematters.co.uk.
3) Write a short letter to your local paper
Here is an example:
Dear Editor
I am concerned that EU27 citizens in this area will not be able to vote in the European Parliamentary elections on 23 May 2019 unless they complete and return the EU citizens' European Parliament voter registration form and return it to the local authority before 7 May in addition to registering on line on the electoral register.
Free and fair elections are best served by the widest possible participation of all who are eligible to vote.
Yours sincerely,
<YOUR NAME>