SCOTLAND’s Constitutional Relations Secretary has called for an urgent inquiry after thousands of EU citizens living in the UK were denied the chance to vote in Thursday’s European elections.
The hashtag #DeniedMyVote was trending as people complained on social media, after “administrative errors” stopped them casting their vote.
Michael Russell has written to Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington and the Electoral Commission, describing it as an “outrageous deprivation of democratic rights”.
He also warned that the lack of time and information provided for EU citizens to complete the necessary paperwork risked causing uncertainty for them.
“It is a disgrace that in addition to the uncertainties that EU citizens have had to endure over the last almost three years since the EU referendum, some have been denied their right to vote in the European Parliament election,” wrote Russell.
“We want EU citizens in Scotland to feel settled and secure, and to continue to feel welcome and valued in Scotland.
“This debacle will do nothing to ease their concerns.
“We also have first-hand reports of EU citizens being unable to vote even though they had completed and returned the forms on time.”
Russell added that any seat secured by a small margin could be impacted by the refusal to allow people to vote.
“I would ask you to investigate the scale of this problem, which may have arisen due to the lack of time in the run-up to the election.
“I believe it is imperative that an inquiry is conducted into these issues as a matter of urgency.
“Any seat that is secured by only a small number of votes could be impacted by this outrageous deprivation of democratic rights.”
The National told yesterday how scores of EU citizens living in Scotland were denied a vote after the error mistakenly left them struck off the electoral register. Many polling stations could easily have remedied the situation, but were unaware that they could.
READ MORE: Scandal as EU citizens are refused right to vote in European Election
The Electoral Commission said it can “understand the frustration” caused by the situation and attributed the problem to the “very short notice” on the UK’s participation in the European poll.
EU citizens must transfer their vote from their member state to the UK two working days in advance of the election, a process the Electoral Commission said, “could be made easier”.
In a statement issued yesterday, it said: “We understand the frustration of some citizens of other EU member states, resident in the UK, who have been finding they are unable to vote today when they wish to do so. All eligible EU citizens have the right to vote in the EU elections in their home member state.
It added: “If an EU citizen instead chooses to vote in the EU election in the UK, there is a process for them to complete to essentially transfer their right to vote, from their home member state to the UK.
“This is a requirement of EU law, which specifies that this has to be done ‘sufficiently in advance of polling day’. UK law sets this as 12 working days in advance of the poll.
“This legal process could be made easier for citizens, and the commission made the case for doing so following the last EU elections in 2014.”
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