The Electoral Commission has been asked to permit late postal votes for the European parliament elections to be counted as reports continue of many British nationals living abroad receiving their ballot papers too late to return on time.
A group of 10 MEPs has written to the regulator to say that it should consider any postal vote that arrives by Sunday when the polls close across Europe. “We cannot permit lousy disenfranchisement like this,” said the Liberal Democrat MEP Catherine Bearder, who wrote the letter to the commission. …
… Voters in Australia, Canada and Japan have said they only received their paperwork on Monday, making it impossible to send a return postal vote in time for the deadline on Thursday.
Simon Payne and his wife, who live in Sydney, said they received their ballot paper on Wednesday, less than a day before the election. …
… The Electoral Commission said that by law votes had to be received by 10pm on Thursday and any extension would require a change to the law.
The MEPs’ letter comes as reports also continue of EU citizens living in the UK, including the Europe director of Amnesty International, being denied their right to vote in the election.
Gauri van Gulik said she was told by officials she could vote in her native country when she arrived at a polling station in north London. “I was denied my right to vote tonight in #Haringey, London. I was on the list but had a G next to my name. I was told “vote in The Netherlands”. What is happening in this country?” she tweeted.
As experts said the government could face legal action, more than 700 emails have been sent to the Guardian reporting missed votes.
Angry EU citizens, who said they would not be silenced, have complained to the Electoral Commission and councils across the country in an effort to get redress.
Many expressed anger that their name was on the register but had been crossed out, marked ineligible to vote, even though they had returned the paperwork to notify their local councils that they would be exercising their right to vote in the UK and not their country of birth.
There were also reports of confusion among officials. One clerk emailed to say he “saw first hand the lack of guidance regarding EU nationals’ voting rights” in a Cambridge polling station.
When EU nationals protested that they had completed the correct paperwork, there was no direction on what to do. …
… One voter in London said she had returned both forms “well in advance” but was still turned away.
Diana Miranda, a Portuguese national said: “They gave me a card with the contact of the electoral registration office. I called and was told I didn’t send this second form and that I couldn’t vote in the election. I said I sent this second form but they just told me again that they didn’t get anything and I couldn’t vote.”
She said she felt it was was “absolutely disgusting that my voice and citizenship will be completely ignored”.
“I felt very sad, frustrated and even furious when I was not allowed to vote. This is a basic human right. I should have voted and I was turned away because of a two-tier administrative system that seems to treat citizens differently. It is discriminatory and it made me feel that I am not a full citizen.” …
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