Changes to European Union Citizens voting
EU Citizens voting rights
From 7 May 2024, EU electors are only able to vote at elections and referendums that use the local government franchise in England if they are:
- a qualifying EU citizen, or
- an EU citizen with retained rights.
A person is a qualifying EU citizen if they:
- Are a citizen of a country with which the UK has a bilateral voting and candidacy rights (VCR) treaty; and
- Are resident in the UK with any form of leave to remain, or do not require such leave.
Currently the UK holds bilateral treaties with Denmark, Luxemburg, Poland, Portugal, and Spain.
A person is an EU citizen with retained rights if they:
- Are a citizen of a country with which the UK does not have a bilateral voting and candidacy rights (VCR) treaty
- Have been legally resident in the UK since before the UK left the EU on 31 December 2020 - the implementation period completion date (IPCD)
- Have retained unbroken lawful immigration status or exemption from immigration law requirements between IPCD and the point they apply to be registered, or when they confirm their residency as part of the eligibility confirmation and review (ECR) process - see below.
From 7 May 2024 there has been a new application and determination process for EU citizens to take account of the franchise changes including yes/no question to confirm their historical residency.
Eligibility Confirmation Review (ECR) Process
Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) were required to conduct the ECR from 7 May 2024 to determine if existing EU electors were eligible to remain registered under the new criteria.
The ECR process consisted of 2 parts: the data-based review process and the correspondence-based review.
The data-based review provided for the use of any data which the ERO held or had access to for the purpose of their registration duties. This enabled them to identify qualifying EU citizens and EU citizens with retained rights without taking any further action other than to write out to the elector to confirm they were being retained on the register. Most EU electors were confirmed through the data-based review, including all qualifying EU Citizens.
Where an elector was not confirmed via data, the correspondence-based review was used to write out to them to ask them to confirm if they remained eligible to be registered to vote under new franchise criteria. This was done by asking electors to confirm if they met the new historical residency requirements. Electors received up to three review notices including a personal contact. If no response was received in time, the ERO determined they were ineligible to remain registered.
Where a response was received, the ERO had the power to ask for additional information where they were not satisfied they met the new criteria. The additional information they could request included a View and Prove share code to access an elector’s E-Visa, documentary evidence such as a passport or biometric card, or a statement of eligibility.
Our correspondence review commenced during Autumn 2024, and ended on 21 January 2025.