The #DeniedMyVote scandal: Now the UK can’t even run an election
The lies and political interference surrounding the 2016 EU referendum showed the Conservative government of the day couldn’t run a plebiscite properly.
Now it seems the exclusion of EU citizens based on the UK from voting in the European Parliament elections has proved the current Tory government can’t run an election either.
EU-born voters said they felt they were being “silenced” as this was the only election they had a right to participate in, being ineligible to vote in the referendum or general elections.
And it seems the government has a case to answer, as their names were crossed off the electoral register due to alleged “clerical errors” by local councils. This may amount to multiple breaches of EU treaties, including article 20 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, which states that EU nationals have “the right to vote … under the same conditions as nationals of that state [of residence]”.
It is unlikely that any election result may be voided as a result of these “clerical errors”, it is said that individuals have the right to sue for compensation.
According to The Guardian, “The issue centred on the fact that the UK’s involvement in the elections was confirmed late because of the Brexit crisis and that EU citizens were required to fill in a form called the UC1 or EC6 to declare they would be voting in the UK and not their country of birth.
“There were reports of people being told by officials that they should or could vote in their home country, something the civil rights campaigner Gina Miller said reflected a “hostile environment” creeping into the democratic process.
“But many of the complaints centred on three clerical errors: councils failing to communicate with EU citizens about a second form; councils not sending out the forms to people who requested them on time; and councils failing to register the forms when they were received.”
Is this because councils are not properly funded by the Conservative government?
Complaints that people were being disenfranchised were brought to Mrs May during Prime Minister’s Questions:
Today I asked @theresa_may to make sure all #EUcitizens living in the UK can vote tomorrow by making the UC1 form available at all polling stations. As PM she could do this but she refused. I wonder why? 🤔 #EUElection2019 #the3millionVote #BrexitChaos pic.twitter.com/S3UUvFnnPO
— Joanna Cherry KC (@joannaccherry) May 22, 2019
David Lammy certainly thinks the Tories should be brought to court over this:
3 years of being insulted, exploited and asked to apply to stay in their own homes.
Now reports flooding in that EU citizens are being turned away at polling stations, despite being registered to vote.
The two step process is ugly discrimination #DeniedMyVote https://t.co/w3tzM9blBo
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) May 23, 2019
Historian and citizens’ rights campaigner Professor Tanya Bueltmann said Theresa May had chosen not to prevent the scandal, despite having been warned several times about the extra forms EU citizens had to submit in order to qualify for a vote – itself in breach of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union:
https://twitter.com/cliodiaspora/status/1131554296376569856
Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.
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More gerrymandering by the evil Tories. This needs to be fully and robustly investigated. I won’t hold my breath though.