Policy paper

A democracy that works for everyone: British citizens overseas

This document explains the government approach to removing the current 15 year rule on British citizens overseas voting in parliamentary elections.

• From: Cabinet Office
• Published: 7 October 2016

This was published under the 2016 to 2019 May Conservative government

Documents

A democracy that works for everyone: British citizens overseas

PDF, 411 KB, 19 pages

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Details

On 7 October 2016 the government published details of its approach to removing the current 15 year rule on British citizens living overseas voting in parliamentary elections. The policy seeks to remove the current rule that means British citizens abroad can only vote for 15 years from the point they were last registered to vote in the UK.

The policy seeks to give the right to vote to all British citizens overseas who were previously resident or registered to vote in the UK. It will ensure that all eligible overseas electors are able to register to vote and renew their registration in a convenient and timely fashion while maintaining the integrity of the electoral register and guarding against fraud.

Currently, overseas electors will remain entitled to vote in parliamentary elections, but not in any other elections (such as local elections or elections to the devolved legislatures).

The government welcomes feedback from any interested party on these proposals. Comments on the proposed policy described in this document can be sent to overseas-electors@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

Published 7 October 2016