A survey carried out by the UK Electoral Commission has found that half of British expat respondents are unaware that they are able to register online to vote in the UK.

The elections watchdog has therefore urged UK citizens living overseas to register (www.gov.uk/register-to-vote). Previously, the only way to vote was to complete a paper application and post it to the applicant's local electoral office, but now an application can rapidly be completed online with the individual's National Insurance and passport numbers.

"Our survey found that half of UK citizens living overseas that we spoke to don't know that thez can register to vote online in just five minutes," commented Alex Robertson, Director of Communications at the Electoral Commission. "Many people are eligible to vote and now it's easier than ever to take the first step by going online. In fact, over 80,000 UK citizens living overseas have already applied since our campaign began in mid-March."

In order to be eligible to register as an overseas voter, UK residents overseas must have previously been registered in a UK constituency within the last 15 years. Anyone who is unsure if they are registered to vote are advised to contact their last UK local authority to check their status.

Expats looking to vote by post in the EU Referendum will need to register by 16 May to allow for enough time to receive and return their postal ballot. Expats can vote by post, by appointing someone they trust to vote on their behalf, or in person at their polling station if they will be in their local authority area on polling day.

The Commission's survey of UK expats aimed to gain an understanding of the knowledge and attitude of this demographic towards their voting rights and is therefore not representative of the estimated 5.5 million UK citizens living overseas.

Almost 106,000 overseas electors were on the register for the 2015 General Election, three times the number that were on the register ahead of the previous general election in 2010 and the highest number of overseas voters registered ever.

 

Photo by Shutterstock