Allow voting in national elections for all British citizens living abroad

Rejected 11 signatures

What the petition asks

Currently, British citizens, living outside the UK for more than 15 years, cannot register and therefore vote in UK national elections. They often cannot take part in the national election of their country of residence as a British citizen and have no role in the (international) democratic process.

The rule that a British citizen, living outside the UK for more than 15 years, cannot take part in national elections, amounts to an unjustified and arbitrary disenfranchisement and is thus undemocratic. A holder of a British passport has, regardless of the number of years living outside the UK, nevertheless, an interest in the government of the UK and should be able to express this interest by being able to take part in national elections.

Why it was rejected

It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.

The Government has said that it does have plans to change this rule. It's therefore not clear what action you would like the Government to take that is different from what it is already doing.

You can find more information in the Government's response to this petition:
Extend Eu referendum voting rights to all UK citizens living abroad.

Timeline

26 Jun 2016	Petition opened for signatures
13 Jul 2016	Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 11

Status Rejected

Rejected 13 Jul 2016

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