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EC slams UK government for deliberately excluding the expat vote
| Published: | 15 Oct at 6 PM |
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A report from the British Electoral Commission has accused the UK government of excluding 1.7 million expats from voting in the European elections.
The report considers the government’s action violated its responsibility as regards ensuring correct levels of democracy by failing to correct errors which saw many hundreds of thousands of EU citizens losing their votes in 2014, resulting in a similar issue concerning this year’s European elections.
Most importantly, eligible British voters living, working or retiring within the EU were denied reasonable, practical ways of voting, just as they were in the Brexit referendum. One major issue was down to electoral registration officers in the UK who sent out voting papers so late it was impossible to return them in time for the count, thus denying those wishing to cast votes the right to do so.
The report is being welcomed by the expatriate group New Europeans, as it’s been campaigning for the electoral and other rights of all European citizens for the past six years. According to the group, the mass exclusion of EU citizens living in the UK was simply a deliberate outcome of government failure as regards remedying already known flaws in the system.
As a result, a public enquiry is being called for in order to prevent similar exclusions from happening again. As regards UK expatriates in EU member states, many are of the belief the delay in delivering postal voting forms during the run-up to the Brexit referendum was also a deliberate ploy to prevent those assumed to be Remain voters from making their voices heard.
The report considers the government’s action violated its responsibility as regards ensuring correct levels of democracy by failing to correct errors which saw many hundreds of thousands of EU citizens losing their votes in 2014, resulting in a similar issue concerning this year’s European elections.
Most importantly, eligible British voters living, working or retiring within the EU were denied reasonable, practical ways of voting, just as they were in the Brexit referendum. One major issue was down to electoral registration officers in the UK who sent out voting papers so late it was impossible to return them in time for the count, thus denying those wishing to cast votes the right to do so.
The report is being welcomed by the expatriate group New Europeans, as it’s been campaigning for the electoral and other rights of all European citizens for the past six years. According to the group, the mass exclusion of EU citizens living in the UK was simply a deliberate outcome of government failure as regards remedying already known flaws in the system.
As a result, a public enquiry is being called for in order to prevent similar exclusions from happening again. As regards UK expatriates in EU member states, many are of the belief the delay in delivering postal voting forms during the run-up to the Brexit referendum was also a deliberate ploy to prevent those assumed to be Remain voters from making their voices heard.
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