Greens respond as EU citizens are denied vote in today's elections

23 May 2019

The Green Party has responded to reports that EU citizens are being denied a vote in today's EU elections due to administrative errors. 

Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the party, said: "Nothing sums up the future of Brexit Britain better than today’s voting scandal. The Government’s promises to protect the rights of EU citizens appear to be false.

The hostile environment is already impacting against EU citizens, who have been denied their legal rights before we have even left the EU.

The Green Party believes that voting rights should be based on residence, not nationality. Today’s voting is a clear violation of that principle.

The requirement for EU nationals is discriminatory, requiring voters to complete an additional piece of paperwork is an unnecessary administrative burden, and the question must be answered whether this is a violation of European Union law. The situation has to be compared with UK students, who are able to choose between voting in their home constituency and university constituency in both EU and UK parliamentary elections - a decision which is taken on trust with no additional paperwork required.

This difference between the treatment of EU nationals and UK students is evidence that this administrative burden is designed by the Government to reduce the number of EU voters.” 

 

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