Getting our Votes back...three weeks on

“We registered the first day and since receiving confirmation have registered a proxy vote.
So easy to do.”

Three weeks have passed since UK citizens living abroad for more than 15 years got their vote back on 16 January 2024. How’s it going?

The numbers…

The election hasn’t been announced yet but UK nationals abroad are still steadily applying to get re-registered. More than 25k people applied to register in the first 15 days and the total on the dashboard now stands at nearly 30,000:

What are people saying about the changes?

British in Europe has done more press in the last two weeks.

Co-Chair Fiona Godfrey spoke to the i-paper and The Times. Both articles continued the discussion started in Byline Times about which party would benefit from our re-enfranchisement. This was picked up by other media, including the Daily Mail, and the Rest is Politics even discussed our voting rights.

The 2019 University of Sussex survey about overseas electors’ voting preferences, on which we partnered and that we highlighted in our press release, has been discussed in the Times, the FT, Huffington Post and Evening Standard to mention a few. Dr. Sue Collard, the co-author of that report, has also been in demand for interviews.

How is the new registration process going now?

Generally, we are still getting very positive feedback: simple to use and quick to complete. As time goes on, some teething problems are coming up but these can usually be sorted simply by contacting your electoral registration officer (ERO) either by email or, even quicker, by phone. EROs admit that some of this is new for them as well and aim to help.

We also contacted  The Electoral Commission and DLUHC (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) about the main issues that have been coming up and we will shortly be updating our FAQs on these:

• People facing problems because their last place of registration and last address were not in the same constituency.
• Confusion around when to apply for an absent vote.
• Questions about name changes.
• Questions about residence and how long you have to have lived in the UK to be eligible.
• The ID verification document list and the address verification document list.

So keep the feedback coming on how your application went on social media or by contacting us on voting @ britishineurope.org.

Spreading the word

We have continued to communicate the change in the law via social media (primarily Facebook and  X/Twitter) and local print media. We are sending voter registration materials co-branded with The Electoral Commission to media which target UK nationals abroad who may not be active on social media. For example, Living Magazine in SW France, a magazine which reaches a significant number of British voters, published a double page feature encouraging registration in their February issue.

We now need to raise funds to support additional activities.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

You can help us get the message out:

1) share our social media posts and our press interviews

2) email or phone friends and family who live abroad and encourage them to register asap

3) DONATE so we can take more action.