How easy is it for overseas citizens to partake in elections?

My name is Barnaby, a student of International Relations in the United Kingdom. I currently reside in Geneva, Switzerland. During academic term time, I maintain a residence in England, which enables me to easily register to vote in the constituency of Loughborough. While my registration process was straightforward, I have observed that my family members and fellow international residents, who reside overseas full-time, face significant challenges in exercising their right to vote. This blog aims to explore and document the difficulties encountered by overseas voters, hoping to provide a voice for this overlooked section of the electorate.

Since the 2015 General Election, the number of overseas voters has steadily been rising. As of the 2017 General Election, a record 285,000 expats were registered to vote, estimated to be 20% of the eligible overseas voters [1]. As of the 16th of January 2024, the Conservative Party implemented the ‘Votes for Life’ policy, establishing new rules that allow any UK citizen to register to vote, regardless of how long they have lived outside of the United Kingdom. This overturned the previous 15-year restriction. The reform represents the most significant expansion of the franchise since female suffrage in 1928 [2]. This policy means my parents, along with millions in the same boat, will not have their right to vote denied, based on how long they have been abroad.

With an estimated 5.5 million UK citizens overseas, of which 3.5 million are now eligible to vote, this newly introduced wave of voters highlights the ongoing injustice that, whereas citizens abroad theoretically have the right to vote, in practice they face significant barriers. If the government is going to give foreign nationals the right to vote, it needs to implement the infrastructure for it to work.

This in turn tends to the question: how easy is it for overseas citizens to partake in elections? I would argue it is frustratingly complex.

What’s the problem?

To speak of the upcoming General Election, postal ballot papers for the St Albans constituency (the last place my parents were registered to vote) were sent out on Monday 24th June. Despite the Swiss postal services being ranked 1st by the World Economic Forum as of 2020 [3], my parents' ballot paper arrived on Saturday 29th of June, 5 days before polling day!

Whilst it is ultimately unfair to blame postal services, the government appears to overlook the fact that, whilst postal services may be fairly reliable within the European Union, this standard is not consistently met internationally, particularly in developing countries. In turn, this could result in hundreds if not thousands of votes being unaccounted for. Continuing to rely on postal votes and the world’s postal system may no longer be acceptable.

Due to the scale of delays in postal votes being delivered, several UK citizens abroad have been left with no other choice than to send their ballot back to the UK by courier. This is not cheap. To put this into perspective, a DHL delivery of a letter (within 2 days) to the UK from Switzerland would cost approximately CHF 80 (£70).

Consequently, from the complex registration process and unfit international postal services, to the lack of outreach to overseas voters, a multitude of problems arise when attempting to vote from abroad. Whilst the Electoral Commission has acknowledged that the main barrier is the amount of time available to return ballot papers [4], nothing has yet been done to resolve the problem. If a vote arrives after polls close, it will not be counted.

As stated by Unlock Democracy’s Director, Tom Brake, “Extending the right to vote to overseas voters isn’t the same as their postal votes actually being counted” [5]. Thousands of voters miss out on their democratic right to electoral participation due to the government’s failures to address long standing problems voters overseas face. At Unlock Democracy, we firmly believe that one person being denied their right to vote is one person too many.

What can be done?

Mirror international success stories: All citizens of the United States are eligible to receive ballots electronically. These ballots are sent 45 days ahead of federal and midterm elections (unlike approximately two-three weeks before polling day in the UK). In addition to this, there is a backup way of voting if the first option falls through by using the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB) [6]. Furthermore, in New Zealand the entire process of voting from abroad can be done online with no post needed [7], the same goes for Estonia [8]. The predominant reason this hasn’t been implemented in the UK is due to cybersecurity risks. The danger arguably lies in the potential compromise and manipulation of votes. With the successes seen in Estonia, why can’t the same robust technology be used in the UK?

Voting at Consulates and Embassies: Having been able to engage with the expatriate community, the majority have said they are in favour of having the option to vote in person at UK consulates and embassies. These views were reflected by the Chair of the British Overseas Voters Forum, Bruce Darrington who stated that ‘nearly every developed and many less developed countries worldwide use their embassies and consulates to facilitate overseas voting, emphasising its security. Voters register directly with their embassy or consulate, receive ballot papers, and return them securely via fast post systems managed by diplomatic missions’. Without such measures, he estimates that ‘only half of the postal votes sent out are ultimately returned’ - a worrying statistic for our democracy.

Overseas Constituencies: At Unlock Democracy we have partnered with New Europeans UK to campaign for overseas constituencies to ensure better parliamentary representation for UK citizens living abroad (more information on this can be found in the ‘campaigns’ section of our website). The ripple effect of this would be a simplified registration and voting process, making it easier for expats to vote in person. This would create a more streamlined way for all citizens to participate in elections. Moreover, foreign nationals would feel more connected to the UK if they had someone directly serving and representing their interests (and that of their fellow UK citizens resident in their country abroad) in the UK Parliament.

To conclude, as expats, the right to vote is precious because it represents our voice from abroad despite being physically distant from our mother country. Ensuring that UK expats like my family can participate fully in elections matters to me and is crucial for a truly representative democracy.

To those who do not believe in international residents' right to vote, I urge you to remember that British citizens living abroad are still affected by domestic policies, as is seen by Brexit’s profound lasting impacts.

If British citizens living overseas are to have the right to vote, we must make sure that their votes are counted. We must demand reforms to the way overseas voters partake in elections. In turn, this will strengthen democracy for all British citizens, no matter where they reside across the world.

[1] https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn05923/

[2] https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20240116-millions-of-overseas-brits-now-eligible-to-vote-in-uk-general-elections

[3] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/10/worlds-best-postal-services-global-public/#:~:text=Switzerland%27s%20postal%20service%20comes%20top,States%20in%207th%20and%208th.

[4] https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN05923/SN05923.pdf

[5] https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/brits-abroad-fear-postal-delays-could-stop-them-voting

[6] https://uk.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/voting/

[7] https://vote.nz/voting/how-to-vote/vote-from-overseas/

[8] https://e-estonia.com/how-did-estonia-carry-out-the-worlds-first-mostly-online-national-elections/