Changes to EU citizens voting and candidacy rights

From 7 May 2024, following a change to legislation, European Union (EU) electors will only be able to vote or stand at elections and referendums that use the local government franchise if they are either:

• a qualifying EU citizen - a citizen from EU countries with reciprocal agreements with the UK, currently Denmark, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Spain (referred to as the EU5)
• an EU citizen with retained rights - EU citizens from other EU countries who were legally resident in the UK before 31 December 2020 (referred to as the EU19)

This change will not affect the rights of citizens from Ireland, Malta or Cyprus. They will keep their voting rights in all UK elections while living in the UK.

Eligibility confirmation review process

At the beginning of August, we will be writing to all EU citizens currently registered on the Electoral Register to either:

• confirm that they are being retained on the register following a data-based review as being a qualifying EU citizen or having retained rights - no further action is required
• ask them to confirm if they remain eligible to be registered to vote under the new criteria - this will be done by asking electors to confirm if they meet the new historical residency requirements. Electors can receive up to 3 review notices from us by letter, email and a personal contact

If an EU citizen receives correspondence that asks them to confirm their historical residency, please follow the instructions in the letter or email as soon as possible to avoid further correspondence. 

For further information see Electoral Commission: Changes for EU citizens in some UK elections.

If you do not respond to the review notices we will make follow up visits to your property. These visits take place between Monday 9 December and Friday 13 December.