From 7 May 2024, European Union (EU) citizens are no longer automatically entitled to register to vote and stand for election.
Two groups of EU citizens will retain their voting and candidacy rights:
- ‘qualifying EU citizens' – citizens of EU countries with which the UK has reciprocal voting and candidacy agreements. These countries are currently Denmark, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Spain (also known as the EU5). The agreements mean that we allow their citizens who are resident in the UK to vote in our local elections (but not UK Parliamentary elections) and they allow our citizens who are resident in their countries to vote in their elections
- ‘EU citizens with retained rights' – citizens of other EU countries who were already legally resident in the UK before 31 December 2020
This change will not affect the rights of citizens from Ireland, Malta or Cyprus.
We are now (commencing August 2024), reviewing the registrations of all EU citizens. For those EU citizens who are currently registered to vote and where one of the following applies:
- we are able to confirm that you were resident in the UK before 31 December 2020 through checking electoral register records, or
- you qualify to remain on the electoral register as a citizen of Denmark, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal or Spain
then we will send you an email or letter confirming you remain eligible to be registered under the new criteria. You will not need to do anything: you will remain registered and will be able to vote in local elections (but not UK Parliamentary elections).
However, if you are an EU citizen who is currently registered to vote but we are unable to confirm that you are eligible to remain registered through our electoral register records, then we will send you an email or letter to try and find out if you are still eligible to remain registered.
We will only send emails from the address elections@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk. Please check the email address before responding.
If you have received a letter or email asking you to confirm your eligibility, you will need to either:
- respond via the gov.uk website - details on how to log in will be included in the letter or email you will have received, or
- complete the paper form that will be enclosed with the letter and return it to us using the pre-paid envelope provided
If you confirm to us that you do not meet the eligibility criteria, then your details will be removed from the electoral register. This means that you will no longer be able to vote in local government elections and Police and Crime Commissioner elections. You will receive a further letter confirming this.
If you do not respond to our requests for information about your eligibility, then we will determine that you are no longer eligible to remain registered to vote and your details will be removed from the electoral register. This means that you will no longer be eligible to vote in local government elections and Police and Crime Commissioner elections. You will receive a further letter confirming this.
If you didn't respond to our requests for information (and your details have been removed from the electoral register) but you do meet the eligibility criteria, then you will need to register to vote again at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.
Changes to citizenship or nationality
If you have gained new citizenship or changed your nationality since you last registered to vote, you should let us know. The changes to your citizenship or nationality may affect your eligibility to vote in some elections and you might need to register to vote again. You can contact us at elections@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk or call 01305 838299. Alternatively, you can submit a new application to register to vote at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.