Running electoral registration - England

Can a citizen from the European Union register to vote?

Providing they meet with the age and residency requirements and that they are not legally incapable of voting citizens from member countries of the European Union are eligible to register to vote in local government elections if they are either: 

• a qualifying EU citizen 
• an EU citizen with retained rights 

Citizens of the Republic of Ireland, Cyprus and Malta are eligible to be registered to vote in respect of all elections in the UK.

Qualifying EU citizens 

A person is a qualifying EU citizen if they:1

• are a citizen of a country with which the UK has bilateral Voting and Candidacy Rights (VCR) treaty
• are resident in the UK with any form of permission to stay, or do not require such permission  

Permission to enter or stay in the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man is also known as leave to enter or remain. 

Currently the UK holds bilateral treaties with the following countries:

• Denmark 
• Luxembourg 
• Poland 
• Portugal 
• Spain

In this guidance we refer to these countries as the EU5. 

Citizens of EU countries with reciprocal voting treaties that cease to apply retain their voting rights. Their voting rights would only be affected if their country was also deleted from the list of countries in Schedule 6A of the Representation of the People Act 1983, through legislation in the UK Parliament.

EU citizens with retained rights 

A person is an EU citizen with retained rights if they:2

• are a citizen of a country with which the UK does not have bilateral Voting and Candidacy Rights (VCR) treaty
• have been legally resident in the UK since before the UK left the EU on 31/12/2020 (the Implementation Period Completion Date – IPCD)

The member states of the European Union which do not currently have a bilateral VCR treaty with the UK and are not also Commonwealth countries (or Ireland) are:
 

In this guidance we refer to these countries as the EU19. 

*Citizens of the Republic of Ireland, Cyprus and Malta are eligible to be registered to vote in respect of all elections in the UK.

Determining eligibility of an elector with EU Settled status 

Providing that EU Settled status (EUSS) has been granted to the individual in their own right and not on the grounds of being a joining family member, a grant of EU settled status is sufficient to confirm a person meets the residency requirements, no matter when the EUSS was granted.

This is because having personal EUSS can be taken as evidence that an individual has been resident in the UK continuously since at least IPCD, regardless of when it was granted. 

Obtaining EUSS requires the individual to have been legally resident before the IPCD. 

This includes any individual who has a personal settled or pre-settled status – either of which can be taken as evidence they meet the new eligibility criteria. 

EUSS as a joining family member

If an individual has EUSS as a joining family member it can be assumed that they have not been resident continuously since at least IPCD and as such would not meet the required eligibility criteria of an EU citizen with retained rights. 

If they had their own continuous legal immigration status since the IPCD they would have been granted their own EUSS, and not that of a joining family member. 

You can ask any such individuals to confirm if they gained settled/pre-settled status on the grounds of being a joining family member or not. If they did, they would not be eligible under the new eligibility criteria.