Posted 28 February Up until now, British citizens have lost their right to vote in general elections and nationwide referendums (such as the Brexit referendum in 2016) when they have lived outside the UK for more than 15 years. This has meant that many UK citizens living abroad have not had a say in decisions that have a direct impact on their lives here in Germany and elsewhere. The Elections Act 2022 has now removed this limit and given people back their vote. British in Europe is currently working to ensure that the changes in the law are implemented in a way that actually work for UK citizens living abroad, e.g. by highlighting any issues that would make it difficult to register to vote or to vote itself. To get a clear picture on the issues people might face, British in Europe is running a survey on voting rights, which closes on Saturday night (4th March 2023). If you are British, please take a few minutes to complete the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.de/r/BiE_Voting_Rights Please also share the survey with other Brits you know living outside the UK (not just in Europe but anywhere in the world!) 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 28 February Most British I know in Germany have now a German passport due to Brexit. They vote here 👻. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 28 February 1 minute ago, LukeSkywalker said: Most British I know in Germany have now a German passport due to Brexit. They vote here 👻. Sure but what is your point? I have been here over 25 years and have not taken German citzensip. With my NZ citienship, also ancient, I was able to vote for years, after living there for one year in my early teens. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 28 February 49 minutes ago, snowingagain said: Sure but what is your point? I have been here over 25 years and have not taken German citzensip. With my NZ citienship, also ancient, I was able to vote for years, after living there for one year in my early teens. You were able to vote in New Zealand? Myself, a British citizen but away for the past 30 years or so, I have no voting rights anywhere. But there again, I pay no tax in the UK, have no assets there. I don't think I should have voting rights there. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 28 February What constituency would we vote in? The last place in which we lived? (Maybe Theresa May could found a new 'Citizens of Nowhere' constituency.) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 28 February 4 minutes ago, Feierabend said: What constituency would we vote in? The last place in which we lived? (Maybe Theresa May could found a new 'Citizens of Nowhere' constituency.) Actually, I'm probably a citizen of nowhere ( sort of philosophically meant ) but I don't think she was thinking of me😂 I tend to enjoy living in other people's countries! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 28 February Of course I wanted to vote against This Madness in 2016. But I had lived outside the UK more than 15 years. But now I think, if bxxxt means less economic growth, it is very beneficial! .. Could create a strange situation if I can vote somewhere I have not lived for many years. Whatabout the Polish people in the UK, can they vote in their country of origin and in the place they live? Mind, having two or more nationalities could seem strange too. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 28 February 1 hour ago, Feierabend said: What constituency would we vote in? The last place in which we lived? That is how it used to work, yep. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 1 March I kept up my UK voting rights until the the first election after my naturalisation came through and I could have kept it longer (15 years out this year). It required me to email a scan of a form to the returning officer for my constituency informing them that I wished to remain on the register, I can't remember how often but it wasn't a big burden because they would email me a reminder when the declaration was about to expire. I suspect the recent changes around voter ID etc would make that tougher, but I don't really care. After I stopped voting in the UK I came to the realisation that not a single vote I ever cast made a blind bit of difference to the political landscape. I have always lived in the safest of safe seats. In the valley town I grew up in, a donkey with a red rosette would get elected no matter what, and in the south of England village I left when I moved to Germany the same could be said for the donkey with a blue rosette. Once I left the UK the fact that my vote was tied to that south of England constituency meant that my constituency MP was John Redwood, we had so little in common politically that I was effectively disenfranchised anyway. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 1 March I'm loving all the hot takes here that basically there's no use / interest in voting in UK elections. Probably from some people who whine about Brexit elsewhere. Guys - voter apathy (or inability) from some demographics is part of the reason we have brexit AT ALL! (Granted, the greater part is lying politicians and a right-wing bias to most TV channels or newspapers) If you pay ca. £100 for your UK passport anyway and have ties / family or financial interests /parallel pensions in UK, why *wouldn't* you want the same right to vote in your passport issuing country that nationals of many other country nationals have lifelong EVEN IF THEY MOVE ABROAD? 93 countries on this planet allow for expatriate voting from abroad (Germany for up to 25 years after leaving - 10 years longer than the UK 15 year UK rule), so why not the UK? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_of_expatriates_to_vote_in_their_country_of_origin 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 1 March 2 hours ago, europaeuropa said: I'm loving all the hot takes here that basically there's no use / interest in voting in UK elections. Probably from some people who whine about Brexit elsewhere. Seriously, it's not apathy it's disgust. This is the MP that I get to vote for https://members.parliament.uk/member/14/contact He has been the MP since 1987 (one year before I was allowed to vote). Until he dies there really is no point. When I lived in the UK I actively campaigned against him, I voted tactically to try to get him out, I protested outside his office. He still won. I voted in the Brexit referendum, I voted in every election before I got German nationality, in the end I just washed my hands of the whole place after the 2019 result put Boris back in power. As for paying for my UK passport, no I haven't and won't renew that either. I'm a German citizen now, the UK will do what it wants and nothing I say will change that. 7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 1 March Feeling your frustrations @europaeuropa and @pappnase. Cast a completely non-consequential vote against DJT in the 2020 US presidential election, purely as a form of protest. Also voted against a proposed anti-abortion amendment in my state, and when we triumphed I felt like maybe my one measly vote had an impact. Going on 4 years here, some days I think it’s great I can be distanced from that garbage across the pond, and then I remember how that stuff affects things here, and then I remind myself that I still have a say, albeit not a very big one. 🤷♀️ On a seesaw. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 1 March I vote not because I think it will make a difference, but because many people past and present didn't or don't have the right. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 1 March 15 hours ago, Feierabend said: What constituency would we vote in? The last place in which we lived? (Maybe Theresa May could found a new 'Citizens of Nowhere' constituency.) Yep. I´ll forever be voting in York although I didn´t live there long and have no connection at all with the place. Personally I think you should be able to vote where you live. I may be a tiny bit affected by what happens in the UK but 99% of the time it´s the decisions of the german government that affect me and it´s the german government that gets all my tax money. I´m not sure I´ll bother with voting in the UK. As said, it never seemed to achieve very much when I lived there. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 1 March It seems, so far, that some posters wouldn't mind being robbed of a democratic life-long vote from abroad that they should anyway be entitled to (e.g. 95 other countries allowing their nationals to vote from abroad). This is deeply depressing. The Brexit referendum was not a per- constituency share vote. Every vote counted like for like. The result was won by leavers by a tiny margin - the average total population of 2 very large cities swung it. There are around 5 million Brits abroad who could have easily cancelled out the small leaver margin if they were all allowed and enabled to vote. Maybe I'm just not as jaded (yet) as some, and view actively not voting / not being bothered about having voting rights in your passport issuing country = I'm more than happy to "enable" parties I oppose to gain an even greater share of votes at constituency level, or for non-constituency referenda. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 1 March 15 minutes ago, europaeuropa said: There are around 5 million Brits abroad who could have easily cancelled out the small leaver margin if they were all allowed and enabled to vote, . Could have. But maybe they´d have voted in exactly the same 52/48 proportion. Or maybe, the fact that people who´ve lived abroad for over 15 years are probably older, more would have voted leave. The brexit leave margin would also very likely have been overturned if it was based on the people living in the UK only - i.e. including non-british citizens, but excluding brits abroad. That seems to me much fairer. I remember people who thought of themselves as Scots living in England moaning that they didn´t get to vote in Indyref. But as there´s no such thing as scottish citizenship it had to be that way - choose not to live there, don´t get to vote. Doesn´t seem all that unreasonable. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 1 March If little value is placed on the British passport and rights connected to it, I wonder whether dual German / Brits will actively use their German passport to enter the UK. I think that's a walk the talk moment for those who have a British passport, but don't value it or voting rights in the UK. Until they do... 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 1 March 8 minutes ago, europaeuropa said: If little value is placed on the British passport and rights connected to it, I wonder whether dual German / Brits will actively use their German passport to enter the UK. I think that's a walk the talk moment for those who have a British passport, but don't value it or voting rights in the UK. Until they do... Sorry, not sure I am clear about what you mean. Do you mean not wanting to spend lots of dosh on a British passport means you do not care about the UK? 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 1 March As long as they are going to be paying my pension and there is the remotest chance I may have to go back to live one day - God forbid but who knows ? - I would like the right to vote in UK. I also begrudge the passport fee but the reality is, life is not fair. Some would give their left buttock to be entitled to one. For the moment I have French nationality but I do not kid myself I will ever feel French or be looked upon as such. 0 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted 1 March 28 minutes ago, europaeuropa said: I wonder whether dual German / Brits will actively use their German passport to enter the UK. I did last time and I will again next time. It's just a travel document, it means not a thing which document I use to enter the country. As I have argued previously even if I enter on a German passport I am and will be a British Citizen when I am there. As for paying a pension or moving back, if I move back then I regain my right to vote, and if a private company doesn't want to pay my pension then there is little I could do to fix it by voting. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
