HAVE YOUR SAY: Britons in France wanted for survey on postal voting
Residents posting in ballots for the UK general election are urged to take part
Are you submitting a postal vote in the UK general election?
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British people living in France are asked to take part in a study into postal voting amid concerns many votes may not reach the UK in time for the vote on July 4.
The study, by charity New Europeans UK, Unlock Democracy and the British Overseas Voters Forum, aims to look at how well postal voting works for British people living and voting from abroad during the UK election.
“We believe that the postal vote process is unlikely to give people, in many or most countries around the world, enough time to complete the ballot in order to get it back before the count takes place,” said Bruce Darrington, Chair of the British Overseas Voters Forum, who lives in Bangkok.
He said after speaking with many members of the British Overseas Voters Forum, he fears a high number of postal votes will not reach the UK in time to be counted in the election.
The British Overseas Voters Forum wants to use the experience of British voters living abroad as evidence of whether postal voting works for their country of residence.
The aim of the study is to log any issues with the postal vote in the hope of implementing changes in future elections, such as distributing and returning ballots via local embassies.
“At the moment, thousands of people could be putting their votes into post boxes around the world and thinking 'job done'. But in reality their vote could be arriving in the UK weeks after polls have closed and never be counted,” said Director of Unlock Democracy and former Liberal Democrat MP, Tom Brake.
Over 111,000 British people living abroad registered to vote between the date the election was called on May 22 and the date registration closed on June 18 according to the Electoral Commission.
The government has estimated that since the abolition of the rule prohibiting people who had lived abroad for over 15 years from voting, there could be some three million British people living abroad who are eligible to vote.
Read more: 6,000 Britons abroad register on first day as 15-year rule ends
How to have your say
British people living in France can help the study by recording when they received and posted their postal votes, or if they received their ballot too late to post it in time at this link.
Alternatively, you can send an email to info@unlockdemocracy.org.uk with the following information:
First name
Surname
Country
Date Postal Vote (PV) requested if known
Date PV received
Date PV posted back
Local authority which issued your PV
Polling district (this will be on your PV)
Polling number (this will be on your PV)
A second survey, by Lib Dems Abroad
The overseas branches of the UK's Liberal Democrats party are running a similar survey into the registration and voting process, which can be found at this link.
