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<p>The latest date in which an EU citizen can submit a European Parliament Voter Registration
Form (known as a UC1 form) to register as an elector in the European Parliamentary
elections is 12 working days before the date of the election. For the recent European
Parliamentary elections that deadline was 7th May. The 12 working day deadline is
based on two provisions relating to the application process and the publication of,
and alterations to, the register before the election. The provisions are contained
in section 13B of the Representation of the People Act 1983 and regulation 29 of the
Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001; and the equivalent
provisions in the Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 2001 and Representation
of the People (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2008 as applied by Schedule 001 of the
European Parliamentary Elections (Franchise of Relevant Citizens of the Union) Regulations
2001. To change the 12 working day deadline would require changes to the legislation.</p><p>
</p><p>The UC1 form implements a requirement under EU law. EU Council Directive 93/109/EC
requires all Member States to send the details of any EU citizens’ declarations to
the state they are a citizen of “sufficiently in advance of polling day” to ensure
an EU citizen does not vote twice in the same European Parliamentary election. This
is not a new requirement and has been in place for previous European Parliamentary
elections.</p><p> </p><p>On 5 April the Electoral Commission published guidance for
Local Returning Officers and EROs on the upcoming European Parliament elections. In
this the Electoral Commission reminded EROs to prepare and issue UC1 forms to EU citizens
on the electoral register. It also encouraged EROs to agree plans and timings for
postal vote despatch (including how to prioritise the despatch of overseas votes).
This latter point covers UK citizens living in EU countries.</p><p> </p><p>On 3 May
the Electoral Commission published guidance advising EU citizens to avoid registering
to vote using unofficial registration sites. In this guidance, they further stated
that “any EU citizen who wants to vote in the European Parliamentary election in the
UK must also print, complete and return a declaration form stating that they will
only vote in the UK.” This guidance also included a link to the Your Vote Matters
website where the form could be downloaded.</p>
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