Petition · past parliament
Remove the arbitrary rule that disenfranchises UK nationals living abroad
Rejected
17 signatures
What the petition asks
Remove the arbitrary rule that disenfranchises UK nationals who have lived abroad for more than 15 years from participating in UK parliamentary elections
In a response to another petition (Urgent law to extend voting rights to British abroad by repealing 15-year rule.) the government said that it is committed to removing this arbitrary rule, but the petition was closed because the next general election was expected to be in 2022. This is plainly now not the case.
The bill to remove this restriction needs has already made some progress, but the remaining stages need to be prioritised.
The bill to remove this restriction needs has already made some progress, but the remaining stages need to be prioritised.
Why it was rejected
There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.
Timeline
| 6 Sep 2019 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 12 Sep 2019 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
17
Status
Rejected
Rejected
12 Sep 2019
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.