The British government can freely float ideas on increasing the financial burden on its estimated 5 million expatriate citizens when so few are actually registered to vote.
Shouldn’t you make sure that you will at least make your voice heard at the ballot box in the next general election in May 2015 by registering now using the on-line option?
The article below from iExpats (investing expatriates) explains the Chancellor’s plans:
“The government is planning more tax and pension blows to hit expats in the pocket.”
“Following an announcement to charge overseas residents capital gains tax on the sale of homes in Britain, the next expat targets are the £10,000 a year personal income tax allowance and halving the state pension deferral rate.”
“Financial experts claim the measures will make expats significantly worse off.“
See more at:
http://www.iexpats.com/new-tax-pension-measures-hit-expat-finances/
Excluded from registering to vote by the 15-year-rule? We would appreciate you adding your vote here in support of our campaign to repeal this arbitrary and undemocratic electoral law.
Votes for Expat Brits blog 
My son and daughter in law live in Australia and lived here at my address before emigrating they applied to vote and was told their voting papers would be sent here to vote by proxy. No paper work has been received will you be sending them here
Your local authority/council office which maintains the electoral roll for the constituency in which you live, should be sending the proxy voting papers for you son and his wife to your address if this is the information they provided. It’s worth checking with your local Electoral Office at the council when you can expect to receive these proxy voting papers if they confirm that your son and his wife are registered proxy voters.
My proxy in Somerset received the proxy papers a couple of weeks ago. Have you been appointed by them to act as their proxy, they can do this online. But as tomorrow is the cut off time for registering to vote in the referendum maybe you should ring your local office and ask where the forms are. Because of the uselessness of snail mail, as I explained in my comments above, I appointed a proxy last year for the general election, they even managed to cock this up by not sending the proxy cards to my proxy, so once again my (and my husbands) right to vote was denied. It would seem they have at last got it right this time.
Amazing how UK performance changed with a change in Governor of the politicaly independent BOE.overnight ?
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I received from THE CABINET OFFICE Westminster 4 Aug 2014 in reply to representation made in March 2004 re expat voting rights 20 years reduced to 15 years in 2000 . THE GOVERNMENT IS NOT MINDED TO CHANGE THE 15 YEAR RULE . No mention of the propagander being filtered through the INDEPENDENT “Electoral Commission ” . I wonder if a CLASS ACTION WOULD / could be taken out by expats within EU or worldwide ( at least for those still having links to UK like frozen pensions etc ) As the ” Government ” is currently Conservative and Liberal ” I will be sending copy of above mentioned letter to Party leaders and MP’s asking about the waste of time and money spent in their name on the issue of the electoral commission programe re overseas registration . With a ” UK” ( never been united ) General election this is the time to at least embarisse those parties IN POWER – in a nutshell thats what its about NOTHING TO TO DO WITH DEMOCRACY . Disenfranchisement = loss of identity ( UN and ECHR.definition )
Even though there are practical problems preventing many overseas voters from meeting the actual election day deadline, it is still important that as many at least register on-line to vote to more visibly demonstrate the latent potential of the expat vote.
It is not then too difficult to have an early voting system solution for different classes of voters who cannot be present in their constituency to vote on election day as demonstrated e.g.by Alaska. The Electoral Commission & UK political parties should take due note.
http://www.newsminer.com/opinion/editorials/you-can-t-vote-often-so-vote-early-state-offers/article_95c15b34-2450-11e4-a8d4-001a4bcf6878.html
Administrator,
http://www.votes-for-expat-brits.com
http://votes-for-expat-brits-blog.com
This happens here in Canada. One has the option to apply to vote early if one is going to be away etc on the actual polling day. The UK government hate expats, especially those of us in Commonwealth countries and are dedicated in making life as difficult as possible. Also if you are an expat pensioner in a Commonwealth country and a few other countries ones state pension is frozen, no cost of living increases just because of where you live!
Thanks, Jane.
Your example of the option of early voting being available in Canada is even more appropriate for a British government which is respectful enough of Canada and its values to have chosen a Canadian as governor of the Bank of England!
Administrator
Yes, your gain our loss, Mark Carney as governor of the of the Bank of Canada kept the Canadian banking system on track.
We may still have the right to vote for 15 years and have the facility to register on-line but then when your ballot papers arrive too late because they use snail mail it is meaningless!
While you are fortunate to still have the vote for 15 years, the postal vote is indeed MEANINGLESS – to quote from the on-line postal voting form “Remember, your ballot paper may not be sent out until four working days before election day.” This means the Friday before an election. And the Post Office may not begin to handle it until the Monday.
Are ballot papers at least sent out by air mail? And in general no hope of getting them back in time.
I thought there were plans to send them out much earlier, but they don’t seem to have materialised.
Thus what HMG would like to do, disfranchise ALL of us, is actually done through these ridiculous practical measures. Even the armed forces seem to have given up voting when abroad.
(one shouldn’t hit the “return” key by mistake) 15-year rule or through “I’m all right, Jack, pull up the ladder” attitudes.
Sitting ducks to be fleeced, with NO SAY in the matter and NO REPRESENTATION IN PARLIAMENT for millions of us, either through apathy or through the 15-ye