How to vote in the UK General Elections from abroad
A quick guideline on voting in the upcoming UK General Elections if you are an overseas citizen
There are two ways to vote if you are a British citizen living outside of the UK, either by postal or proxy vote. Both of these options require voters to post their votes or proxy instructions back to the constituency that they were last registered at.
There are no polling stations in the UAE.
A British citizen that has registered to vote in the last 15 years is eligible to vote in the general elections and European Parliamentary elections.
Those who were under the age of 18, and were thus too young to register to vote when they left the United Kingdom, can still register as overseas voters.
However, the aspiring voter's parent or guardian needs to have been registered to vote in the United Kingdom and the new voter will need to have left the United Kingdom in the last 15 years.
Postal vote:
- Register to vote as an overseas voter
- Fill in the form to register for a postal vote
- Send both the overseas voter form (if you are not already registered as an overseas voter) and the postal vote registration form to the address provided.
- Make sure this reaches the address 6-11 days before election day.
- The ballot will be posted to the overseas address that you provide on the form.
Proxy vote
- Register to vote as an overseas voter
- Fill in the form to register for a proxy vote
- Enter the postcode of the UK address where you were last registered on the electoral roll (this will give you the postal address of your electoral registration officer)
- Send both the overseas voter form (if you are not already registered as an overseas voter) and the proxy vote registration form to the address provided.
- The ballot form will be sent to the person you have named as your proxy voter
- A proxy voter can be a ‘close relative' defined as a spouse, civil partner, parent, grandparent, brother, sister, child or grandchild of the applicant.
Both types of registration should be completed 11 working days before an election, when changing or cancelling an existing proxy or postal proxy, and six working days before the election when applying for a new proxy vote.
For more information, and application forms, log on to www.aboutmyvote.co.uk
