Following the UK’s departure from the European Union, voting rights for EU citizens have changed. To be registered to vote, EU citizens living in England must meet new eligibility criteria, based on the country they are from and when they started living in the UK.
Changes to the franchise of EU citizens were introduced by UK government via the Elections Act 2022. In England, the general right of European Union citizens to register, vote and stand in local government elections will be removed.
The Elections Act amends section 2 of the Representation of the People Act 1983 which provides the franchise for local government elections.
This will mean that in order to vote or stand in all local government elections, an EU citizen will be required to be either:
- a qualifying EU citizen
- an EU citizen with retained rights
This change will not affect the rights of citizens from Ireland, Malta or Cyprus.
Meaning of qualifying EU citizen
A person is a qualifying EU citizen if they are
- a citizen of a country with which the UK has bilateral Voting and Candidacy Rights (VCR) treaty
- resident in the UK with any form of leave to remain, or do not require such leave
Currently the UK holds bilateral treaties with the following countries:
- Denmark
- Luxembourg
- Poland
- Portugal
- Spain
Meaning of EU citizen with retained rights
A person is an EU citizen with retained rights if they are a citizen of a country with which the UK does not have bilateral Voting and Candidacy Rights (VCR) treaty and have been legally resident in the UK since before the UK left the EU on 31/12/2020 (the Implementation Period Completion Date – IPCD)
How will the eligibility Confirmation Review (ECR) process work
The Ealing electoral registration officer will write to all EU citizens in the borough during the summer.
Those EU citizens who have been identified as eligible to remain registered to vote will receive a letter confirming their maintained registration under the new criteria. No action is required by these EU electors. These EU citizen details will remain on the electoral register and will continue to be eligible to vote in local elections.
Those EU citizens who our records show were registered to vote after 31 December 2020, and whereby we are not certain meet the new criteria, will receive a letter requesting further information from that elector to ascertain their eligibility.
For further information on the changes to EU elector voter rights you can visit www.electoralcommission.org.uk/EU, or you can email the election team on elections@ealing.gov.uk or call them on 020 8825 7777.
Guidance for Maintaining Credit Report/Score for EU Nationals No Longer Eligible for UK Electoral Register
If you find yourself no longer eligible to appear on the UK electoral register, please contact your UK credit reference agency to enquire about what steps to take to avoid this change negatively impacting your credit report/score.