Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of enabling EU citizens to present European Parliament Voter registration forms at polling stations on 23 May 2019 to ensure that they are not disfranchised following the time taken to announce the holding of European elections.

The latest date in which an EU citizen can submit a European Parliament Voter Registration Form to register as an elector in the European Parliament elections is 12 working days before the date of the election. The 12 working day deadline is based on two provisions relating to the application process and the publication of, and alterations to, the register before the election. The provisions are contained in section 13B of the Representation of the People Act 1983 and regulation 29 of the Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001; and the equivalent provisions in the Representation of the People (Scotland) Regulations 2001 and Representation of the People (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2008 as applied by Schedule 001 of the European Parliamentary Elections (Franchise of Relevant Citizens of the Union) Regulations 2001.
Council Directive 93/109/EC requires all Member States to send the details of any EU citizens’ declarations to their Home State to ensure an EU citizen does not vote twice, both here and in another EU country. The Council Directive specifies that this has to be done “sufficiently in advance of polling day”