Due to a change in the law, EU citizens are no longer automatically entitled to:
- Register to vote, vote, or stand for election in local government and Police and Crime Commissioner elections.
EU citizens who are able to retain their voting and candidacy rights fall into two categories:
- EU citizens with retained rights are citizens from any other EU country who have been legally resident in the UK since before the UK left the EU on 31 December 2020.
- Qualifying EU citizens are citizens of countries that have a shared Voting and Candidacy Rights treaty with the UK; as of May 2024, countries include:
- Luxembourg
- Poland
- Portugal
- Spain
- Denmark
Review process
The Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) is required to conduct a review of all European citizens that are registered to vote.
The ERO will check through historical electoral register records to confirm if an EU voter was legally resident in the UK before 31 December 2020.
If we are not able to confirm that, an email will be sent to the voter to confirm if they remain eligible to be registered under the new criteria.
If you receive a letter
If you receive a letter confirming you're still eligible to vote, you do not need to do anything further. You'll remain eligible to vote in future local government and PCC elections, but not UK Parliamentary elections.
EU citizens being reviewed
We'll write to you if our records show you're an EU citizen and we need to confirm if you're entitled to remain registered.
We'll contact you if:
- we cannot confirm your nationality from the information we have or if you're a citizen of one of these countries
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Czechia
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- The Netherlands
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Sweden
Responding to the review
If you have received a letter or email asking you to confirm your eligibility, you'll need to either:
- use log in details sent to you and reply on GOV.UK
- complete a paper form included in your letter and return it to us.
If you confirm you do not meet the eligibility criteria or you do not provide details as requested, you'll no longer be eligible to vote in local government elections and PCC elections. You'll receive a letter confirming this.
We'll make 3 attempts to contact you. This could be by a phone call or a canvasser may knock on your door.
If you do not respond to the request for information about your eligibility, you'll no longer be eligible and will receive confirmation of this.
If you're eligible, you can re-register to vote online.
If you have gained new citizenship or changed your nationality
If you have gained new citizenship or changed your nationality since you last registered to vote, you should tell us. Changes to your citizenship or nationality may affect your eligibility to vote in some elections and you may need to re-register to vote.
If you're unsure if you need to respond to the review, you can contact us using our contact form or call 01322 343501
Or you can re-register to vote.