Britain was technically supposed to have left the EU by now. As it is, due to a series of messy negotiations and failed votes, we’re still very much European (thank the Lord) and, as a result, we had to take part in the European elections this week. You see, while Farage and Co. will drone on about ‘unelected European bureaucrats’, we do, actually, elect them. That’s what the European elections are for – every time.
It was a bit last minute, because nobody knew until a few weeks ago whether we would still be part of the EU or not, but we suddenly saw election campaigning (merely weeks since the local elections) and voting took place in the UK, as well as the rest of Europe, yesterday.
We were voting for Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), who will represent us in Brussels, at least for as long as we are still part of the Brussels gang. And while European elections are generally quite low-key here when compared to General Elections, this one felt very significant. Many treated it almost as a second EU referendum, where whether a party was ‘remain’ or ‘leave’ was more important than the rest of their policies. The Tories and Labour, both fuzzy and confused on where they stand, could take a beating for their lack of both clarity and action, whereas the Lib Dems and the Greens could do well as remainers, and the newly formed Brexit Party could perform well for the leavers.
Results won’t be available until Sunday and have been eclipsed by the not-so-sudden resignation of the Prime Minister today.
But, as people were heading out to polling stations yesterday and posting obligatory polling station selfies, a worrying trend began to take shape. Using the hashtag #DeniedMyVote, EU nationals with the right to vote in these elections were being turned away from the voting booths. Their names were on the lists but were ominously crossed out.
Because of the rush in organising the unplanned-for European election, vital paperwork had not been issued in time, and EU citizens were told they could only vote in their own countries, not here in the UK. Well, it was a bit late for that.
Thousands of British residents being disenfranchised in this way is an outrage that we should never tolerate. European citizens, who can choose whether they vote in the country they live in or the one they were born in – as long as they voted in just one of the two – lost their right to a say in who would represent them in Europe. And whether those MEPs represent us for weeks or years, they should be democratically elected.
British citizens living in other EU countries have reported similar problems. These are also presumed to be related to the last-minute participation by the UK in these elections. However, experts foresaw these issues and they should have been knocked on the head well before yesterday arrived. We have the internet now. Forms can be signed electronically. If people are warned that additional paperwork is needed, it can be printed off and brought to the polling station if necessary. These problems are not impassable. There were ways forward.
If governments cared, they could have acted.
Anneli Howard, a barrister who specialises in EU law, told the Guardian that the government was at risk of being sued due to multiple breaches of EU treaties that state that EU nationals have “the right to vote … under the same conditions as nationals of that state [of residence]”.
She went on, “If EU citizens are being asked to fill out additional forms that UK nationals are not, that’s discrimination”.
So not only was the extra paperwork not sent out, nor not sent out in time, it was also discriminatory for it to be required at all.
Maike Bohn of the3million group told The Independent, “Today, we are being contacted by hundreds of EU citizens turned away from the polling booths. It is outrageous that the incompetence and unwillingness of the government and the Electoral Commission have denied these people a vote. The3million is calling for a full investigation of this democratic disaster that has disenfranchised many of the European citizens most affected by the outcome of these elections.
“Thousands of people are being affected by this. In the meantime, we urge all EU citizens who were denied their vote to complain on social media using #DeniedMyVote, and write to their MP and the Electoral Commission to express their outrage.”
The Electoral Commission’s response was frustratingly inadequate:
"So do calm down, chaps and have a nice cup of tea."
Yours, @ElectoralCommUK #DeniedMyVote#EUelections2019 pic.twitter.com/2rAqpEZ6XD— Bonnie Greer (@Bonn1eGreer) May 23, 2019
It said that it understood the frustration of those unable to vote, explains that paperwork has to be submitted “sufficiently in advance of polling day”, and blames electoral law for the lack of improvement of this process.
Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, wrote on Twitter, “The number of EU nationals who appear to have been denied the vote today is a scandal. These are people who live and work here. This is their home and they had as much right to a vote as any of us. Serious questions need to be answered. #DeniedMyVote”
By yesterday evening, #DeniedMyVote was trending on UK Twitter. Whether these voters’ complaints will be taken seriously, or paid attention to at all, remains to be seen. But we must never stop being outraged when anybody, whichever party they want to vote for, is prevented from putting a cross in a box to express their wishes.