British Expats Voting in Parliamentary Elections

[Spa06Jc]

Great news in the budget that they seem to be making moves to remove the 15 years rule.

The yearly renewal is a bit of a pain, but as adamu says it can all be done on line and doesn't require any sending or signing (I believe this is the case only if you are keeping the same format as you had the previous year. Also, this has reminded me that my council sent me a renewal reminder last week...)

Ahead of the announcement of the 2019 election, I was informed by my local council that they were concerned that timelines could be very tight should a snap election be called, and suggested I consider changing to a proxy vote. I'd done that in the past and so duly switched back to using my dad as a proxy. This worked fine in 2019 and in the previous elections/referenda I've voted in so will probably keep it like this. Appreciate not everyone will have accommodating parents/family members however.

[Wales4rugbyWC23]

If you are still within 15 years, it is still quite logistically challenging having to register every year with your local council to vote, when an election is called the wheels of local democracy seem to move very slowly in getting your ballot paper for your constituency delivered to your abroad address and then sending it back within a deadline for postal votes.

This is not my experience. Annual renewal is just submitting an electronic form online - no need to send any post / scan your signature. Post between Japan/UK usually takes about a week to arrive and that's consistent for ballot papers - although this could vary by constituency - mine seems to send them out quickly enough. For other countries I could see the ballot arriving late, but from Japan if you send it back immediately you should be fine, and you can send it via EMS if you care enough.

It must have improved since I last voted which was 10 years ago and I certainly don't remember being given the option of an online electronic form. Everything was done by post. Who knows if according to this Twitter post I maybe re-enfranchised and be able to vote again.

[KyushuWoozy]

Didn't the Americans kick us out because of taxation without representation? Now it looks like we're going to get representation without taxation. Funny old world.

[adamu]

I'm not sure how much representation you get. I'm sure many MPs will be happy to get your vote, but the examples we've seen here of people who tried to contact their MP as a resident abroad weren't very encouraging.

So maybe it's suffrage without representation.

[Wales4rugbyWC23]

What I do hope this might lead to and it might be a very small step towards the unfreezing of the state pension for expats from certain countries. How can it be justified that if you live in Canada your UK state pension is frozen but if you live in the USA you get it index linked/ triple locked. Unfortunately, we in Japan are in the former group.

[Bubblegun]

Didn't the Americans kick us out because of taxation without representation? Now it looks like we're going to get representation without taxation. Funny old world.

Might be a cunning plan my lord.
To give us a vote, give us pension increases, then the small print taketh away..... PAY YOUR TAXES!

https://www.google.co.jp/amp/s/www.bbc. ... s-56265898

[Gareth]

A bit of movement on this topic

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... -elections

[Beaglehound]

A bit of movement on this topic

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... -elections

Well, it’s good news as fears of pension changes for those of us living overseas will be diminished if the politicians fear a backlash. Not convinced I should be allowed to vote in a place I am not resident and pay no taxes though.

[Spa06Jc]

Apologies all for resurrecting an old thread, but I wanted to provide an update.

I wrote to the Cabinet Office via their website a few months ago and received a reply last week as follows:

Thank you for your query regarding progress in implementing the changes required to allow British citizens who have been abroad for more than 15 years to register to vote as overseas electors. I have been asked to reply as this query falls within the remit of the Elections Directorate in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
The Elections Act completed its passage through Parliament and gained Royal Assent on 28 April 2022. The provisions in the Act deliver on the manifesto commitment to remove the 15-year limit and will extend the franchise for UK Parliamentary Elections to all British citizens living overseas who have been previously registered or previously resident in the UK.
To implement these changes, secondary legislation must be drafted, debated and approved by both Houses of Parliament. The secondary legislation will set out the process by which newly enfranchised British citizens living overseas may apply to register to vote and have their eligibility determined.
The necessary secondary legislation is currently being developed and will be brought forward at an appropriate juncture, ensuring that there is sufficient time for Parliamentary scrutiny and for voters and those who administer elections to understand the changes and prepare accordingly. The Government intends that the secondary legislation will be implemented to facilitate registration of overseas electors from Autumn 2023.

So overall sounds like it continues to move in a positive direction, and with any luck we will have a lot of newly enfranchised people voting by the time of the next election.

[kuma]

https://retirewiki.jp/wiki/United_Kingd ... s_for_life' provides some detail as to how the new system is expected to work, and includes links to the below two readable yet authoritative government publications:

Overseas electors: Delivering ‘votes for life’ for British expatriates (Feb 2022 government Policy Paper)
Overseas voters (Apr 2022 House of Commons Library Briefing Paper)