British expats reminded to register for General Election vote

Eligible British expats are being reminded of their voting options ahead of next month’s UK General Election.

British citizens residing outside the UK can vote in the 12th December General Election, providing they have been registered to vote in the UK within the previous 15 years.

Expats who were too young to register when they left the UK, can still register as an overseas voter so long as their parent or guardian was registered and they left the UK no more than 15 years ago.

In order to be eligible to vote, expats should visit this link to register. Overseas voting registration expires after one year so those who have previously registered prior to 12th December 2018 will need to re-register.

Expats have two options when it comes to voting – both of which need to be dealt with ahead of the date of the General Election. They can vote either by post or proxy.

Voting by proxy means an expat appoints someone to vote on your behalf. For this, they’ll need to fill out a paper form to apply for a proxy vote for their relevant constituency and apply by 5pm on 5th December.

Should an expat wish to apply by post, then once again they will need to fill in a form.

This application needs to be in by 5pm on 26th November, and the postal vote must then arrive at the expat’s Electoral Office in the UK by 10pm on 12th December.

Article published 13th November 2019