Are you registered to vote in the UK?

TODAY is officially ‘Overseas Voter Registration Day’ and the UK’s Electoral Commission is urging anyone with the right to vote in May’s general election to make sure they are registered.

To mark the day, Connexion contacted five UK parties this morning to ask if they would like to highlight any policies particularly relevant to expats as the election approaches.

As we post this article, only the Conservatives had responded.

They said they would like to draw attention to their pledge to end the ban on voting for all who have been oversees for 15 years or more, providing a quote from party chairman Grant Shapps, who said: “Being a British citizen gives you the lifelong right to be protected by our military and foreign office and to travel on a British passport. We believe it should also give you the lifelong right to vote.”

We will post up any other replies that we receive.

Registering to vote in the UK has been simplified in time for this year’s general election so – the commission says – you can do it in five minutes on the internet as long as you have the right information to hand. This is your last UK postcode, your National Insurance number and your passport details. Visit: : Register to Vote.

You no longer need to have another Briton abroad to ‘countersign’ your application. However if you will not be in the UK for the elections, you must opt for a postal or proxy vote, which requires you, in a second step, to send in a separate paper form. This form can be emailed to you if you provide an email address while registering online.

Alternatively, you can find the relevant request forms here and print them off, fill them in, sign them and send them to the relevant electoral registration office. This will be at the constituency where you were last on the electoral lists in the UK.

You will only actually be registered once your application has been received and processed by the relevant electoral registration office. Confirmation of this will be posted to you. Once you are registered you can then be granted a postal or proxy vote.

Any voter in the UK can be a proxy for close relatives or up to two other people.

Please note that even if you have been registered from abroad before, you may have come off the lists if you have not renewed annually.

Estimates show that there may be as many as 5.5 million UK nationals living overseas, but there are fewer than 20,000 currently on the electoral register.

The Electoral Commission hopes the simple online registration will now encourage many more people to register. It also states that changes in the electoral timetable will mean that ballots can be sent out to overseas voters in better time this year.

Being registered not only means a chance to have your say as to who runs the UK – affecting matters like expats’ pension, benfit and voting rights – but will also be required to take part if a referendum is held on the UK’s EU membership.

The commisison says it would like people to take the opportunity of Overseas Registration Day to remind friends, family and colleagues to also register to vote.