Parliamentarians have been told that “tens of thousands” of overseas citizens were unable to vote in last summer’s UK general election. British MPs and peers were presented with the results of a survey showing that more than half of overseas voters did not receive their postal ballot early enough for them to be returned in time for their vote to be counted.
On 15 January, representatives of Britons in Spain, Italy and around the world attended a meeting at the House of Commons in London to talk about the frustrations many Britons abroad have felt at “waiting for a ballot that never arrived” or trying to get their vote delivered to the UK in time.
Last July’s general election marked the first time all adult Britons abroad who have ever lived in the UK, were eligible to vote, following the abolition of the so-called ‘15-year rule’.
Wednesday’s meeting coincided with the launch of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on citizens’ rights. It took place in one of the meeting rooms off Westminster Hall. The APPG looks at issues facing EU citizens in the UK and Britons abroad.
Postal voting challenges for overseas Britons
The meeting was hosted by UK Liberal Democrat MP Manuela Perteghella, who is set to be elected chair of the APPG. Other parliamentarians to be voted in as officers of the cross-party APPG are Lord Balfe (Conservative), MP James Asser (Labour) and Baroness Goudie (Labour).
Citizens’ rights charity New Europeans UK, which holds the APPG secretariat, teamed up with the campaign groups Unlock Democracy and the British Overseas Voters Forum (BOVF) to conduct a survey on the performance of the postal voting system during last summer’s general election.
Tom Brake, director of Unlock Democracy and former Liberal Democrat MP, presented the findings of the survey, along with recommendations for improving the system, in parliament. He said:
“Tens of thousands of overseas citizens’ votes did not count at the last general election. Their right to vote was effectively revoked because as reports such as ours show, postal systems around the world can’t get their ballots to them and back again in time for their votes to be counted.”
The meeting also heard from Mike Tuffrey, trustee of BOVF, Sue Wilson MBE, chair of Bremain in Spain, and Clarissa Killwick, team member of Brexpats – Hear Our Voice and co-founder of UK Citizens in Italy – Beyond Brexit.
A case for overseas constituencies
Chair of New Europeans UK, Dr Ruvi Ziegler, made the case for the introduction of overseas constituencies in the UK, to better represent Britons living and working abroad.
Nearly 300 (280) Britons abroad took part in the postal vote survey – around half of them living in France. The survey found that, overall, fewer than half (46%) of respondents were able to return their ballot in time for it to be likely to be counted. Many of those who took part in the survey lived in France.
The sample indicated that even in France, where one would expect the postal system between the two countries to work efficiently, only just over half (55%) received their ballot paper in time to complete it and return it so that it was likely to be counted. In the rest of the world, only 37% of respondents are likely to have got their vote to the UK in time to be counted.
Survey findings: widespread disenfranchisement
While the results are anecdotal, campaign groups say that the number of responses received was sufficient to indicate there were “significant” problems for postal vote users, even in European countries where the postal system might be expected to be reliable.
The Electoral Commission recorded the return rate of postal ballots dispatched, and its findings were consistent with the report. The commission said it did not have comprehensive data on the proportions of postal votes returned. However, the campaign groups say their data from a small sample of local authorities “showed some clear patterns”.
In Canada, the proportion of postal votes that were counted was 48%. In Spain, it was 32%, in France it was better at 75%, while for Australia it was as little as 6%, according to the commission.
The total number of overseas voters registered for the 2024 general election was 191,338, a drop from the 234,000 registered voters for the 2019 general election, according to the Electoral Commission.
Frustrations of voters: personal accounts
Brake said: “These dismal figures for postal voting and the general poor take-up of overseas postal voting are proof the current system is not working. One voter based in Spain told us they applied for a postal vote on 28 March 2024, but received it only on 17 July – almost two weeks after polls closed. Another, living in Canada, received their ballot on 5 July – the day after the election. Farcical stories. But by no means exceptional.”
Some respondents travelled to the UK instead of relying on the British postal system and that of their country of residence. Others, at significant personal cost, relied on courier services to get their votes to the UK in time. Some voted by proxy, but the groups say it can be difficult to find a trustworthy proxy if you have lived abroad for many years.
Recommendations for fixing the system
A number of possible solutions have been suggested. BOVF, Unlock Democracy and New Europeans UK – all of which joined forces for the survey – recommend that the UK government consider the following options to improve the reliability of postal voting for overseas voters:
- Extending the election period would bring about only minimal improvements. The report says that even when overseas voters applied well in advance of the deadline, postal ballots arrived far too late – or in some instances, not at all.
- Copying the practice of many other countries and allowing British citizens overseas to vote in person at UK embassies or high commissions would be a better option and is backed by the Electoral Commission. This, it is argued, would allow British citizens abroad to fill in their ballot papers, sent from the UK in the diplomatic mail bag, at these UK diplomatic missions in their country of residence. The ballot papers would then be returned via the diplomatic mail bag. “This assumes that the diplomatic mail bag is quicker than using the UK’s and country of residence’s postal systems to get overseas voters’ ballot papers to voters and back into the UK”, says New Europeans.
- Electronic voting, provided that security requirements can be met, would be a “game changer”.
Such systems are already used by many US states, and by New Zealand voters overseas, and the groups said this would have the biggest impact, “making voting quick and easy – boosting turnout – and ensuring that votes cast count”.
Overseas voices substantively muted
Improvements to voting could, it is also argued, be combined with the introduction of overseas constituencies, a model some countries of a similar size to the UK have adopted, such as France and Italy.
Dr Ruvi Ziegler said: “In our constituency-based electoral system, overseas constituents’ voices are substantively muted by a weak system of representation in Westminster. They are represented by the MP in an area they may have left decades ago. These MPs are likely to have had little experience of dealing with case works concerning citizens abroad. Their concerns are, by definition, dwarfed by those of most constituents who live in the territorial jurisdiction.”
The disenfranchisement of so many overseas Britons in last year’s general election underlines the need for urgent reforms, from in-person votes to electronic ballots, to ensure that all voices are heard.
