SCORES of EU citizens living in Scotland were denied a vote in yesterday’s election after an “outrageous” administrative error mistakenly left them struck off the electoral register.
And to make matters worse, many polling stations across the country could easily have remedied the situation – but didn’t know that they could.
Voters born in other European countries were expected to sign a form known as a UC1, declaring that they would not vote in another EU member state, but many EU citizens did not even know that the form existed and had to be returned to their local authority by May 7.
While some local authorities emailed or posted the form out, others only advertised online, and others did not mention it at all.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “Just spoken to a constituent at a polling station who is from Poland, been here for years but wasn’t allowed to vote... even though he’s on register. It is outrageous.
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“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.”
Like many others, Dr Emeline Morin, a lecturer in French and Francophone studies at Stirling University, turned up at her polling station in Bannockburn to find she had been struck off the register.
The academic, who has been living in Scotland for 10 years, told The National: “I never had to fill this form in before, I had no idea that it was a thing. It was just very frustrating.
“Apparently we were meant to receive it by mail which we did not. I did not receive anything.”
Justyna Joblanska, a Polish musician and PhD student who has lived in Edinburgh for the past 14 years, was also turned away by staff at the polling station.
“I found my name on the list and it was scored out and they said ‘you are not eligible to vote’.
“They said all the EU nationals were sent an email with a form to be completed before the election stating that we are eligible to vote in the UK. I didn’t receive an email with a form, so then I was asking, ‘I didn’t have an email, what happens now?’, and they said ‘nothing can happen, we can’t do anything about it’.
“I’ve lived here 14 years. I’ve never voted in my home country. I have voted here. I am not eligible to vote in General Elections, which upsets me, I obviously wasn’t allowed to vote in the whole Brexit referendum and it’s extremely upsetting.
“And now I’m being denied this democratic vote. I don’t feel equal to my British colleagues, friends, and I pay taxes, and I do everything by the book.
“It’s just really infuriating. It’s really upsetting. I had a little cry, I’m not going to lie about that.”
%image('9281805', type="article-full", alt="SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford had harsh words for the UK Government over the error")
Hundreds, if not thousands of EU citizens, appear to have been affected.
It also seems as if those polling stations turning EU citizens away were incorrect in doing so.
They could have given the struck-off voters a UC1 form which would have allowed them to vote – but many councils didn’t know this.
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford slammed the “sheer incompetence” of the UK Government.
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The SNP MP said: “It is heartbreaking to see reports of so many EU citizens being denied their right to vote today all because of the sheer incompetence of this Tory Government.
“It is unacceptable that despite warnings being raised over the flawed system, the Tory Government failed to act. The UK Government must urgently look into the reports and find out exactly what went wrong.
“EU nationals have already faced increased uncertainty and instability due to the Tories’ hostile Brexit approach, they should not now have to face an uphill battle in order to simply cast their votes over their future.”
SNP MP Joanna Cherry had urged Theresa May at Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions to ensure the necessary form was available at polling stations for EU citizens.
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