A nationwide picture is emerging of EU citizens in the UK being denied their democratic right to vote in the European parliament elections because of administrative errors by local councils.
Reports are coming in from across the country of EU nationals turning up at polling booths and finding their names crossed out and being told by officials they are not eligible to vote.
Dozens have contacted the Guardian to say that the forms they had to sign to declare they were choosing to vote in this country had either turned up too late or not turned up at all.
7am Polls opened on voting for the European elections across the UK and the Netherlands. Broadcasters now need to be very careful about reporting political news, sticking only to the blandest statements about the fact the elections are happening.
10pm Polls close. There will be no exit poll but some of the parties will have a bit of intelligence about how well or badly they have done, based on whether their supporters have been motivated to vote.
Recess begins, meaning MPs are officially on a break from Westminster until 4 June – which usually limits their ability to plot as they disperse around the country.
Morning: This is the most likely point for the prime minister to make a statement about her future, under pressure from her cabinet, backbenchers and the grassroots.
Afternoon: If no statement is forthcoming, the 1922 Committee will open an envelope containing the results of a secret ballot on whether to allow another motion of no confidence in the prime minister. This is highly likely to lead to a defeat for May, making it probable that she will opt to set out a timetable for her departure at a time of her choosing.
It is polling day in Ireland and the Czech Republic.
Polling is continuing in Malta, Latvia and Slovakia so the results of the UK elections still cannot be revealed.
All other EU countries have their polling days.
10pm: The votes can be published from now on and the first Europe-wide projection will be available soon after this time.
10.30-11pm: North East, South West, Yorkshire and the Humber declarations (based on 2014).
Midnight: London, East of England, North West, Wales, West Midlands declarations (based on 2014).
11.30pm Most Scottish results declared (based on 2014).
12.30am East Midlands declaration (based on 2014).
2am: Most regions will have declared their results by now, so it will be pretty clear how the parties have done. Polls conducted in recent weeks have suggested the Conservatives are set for a dire showing, with Labour also underperforming. The Brexit party is expected to win and the Liberal Democrats and Greens to enjoy a surge in support.
2.30am South East declaration (based on 2014).
Early morning: If May has set out her plans to resign by now, the Conservative leadership candidates are likely to be quick out of the blocks giving their opinions on the elections and setting out how they will turn their party’s fortunes around.
Northern Ireland declaration will be finalised (uses a different system to the rest of the UK).
German nationals Kat Sellner and Moritz Valero said they were “shocked” to find they could not vote despite returning the forms on 2 May.
“It is unacceptable that this government and the election officers have discriminated against EU citizens.
“I will not be silenced and EU citizens will not be silenced,” said Valero.
After emerging from the polling station on the Isle of Dogs in east London, Valero said the officials were “very nice” but told her there was nothing they could do. They gave her a number to phone, which was the same number they had complained to last week when their ballot paper did not show up.
They received a letter at the end of April informing them they had to fill in a form to tell Tower Hamlets council they would vote in the UK and not Germany.
“I went there in person with the forms on 2 May in the rain because we didn’t trust the post would get there by the 7 May deadline. We didn’t receive a receipt, they didn’t stamp the letters, the woman said she was going to put them in a box with the other letters,” said Sellner.
Three days ago an increasingly anxious Valero phoned and was told they were not registered “because they only received the forms on the 16th”.
Sellner protested again to Tower Hamlets and was told the forms were only “stamped” on 16 May, two weeks after they handed them to the council and one week after the deadline for registering.
Similar stories are being told up and down the country. The Guardian received more than 100 emails in the space of a few hours from EU citizens, including one Irish family in Liverpool who said they were denied the right to vote even though Irish citizens are treated like British citizens and can vote in all elections without any special forms.
Others have complained they were not told they had to fill in a separate form, even after registering for the local elections, the only other election in which EU citizens are eligible to vote in the UK.
Peter Baier
(@ptrbaier)I’ve been turned away from the polling station saying I’m not eligible to vote despite the fact I’ve got a polling card received and have registered too. My local council @EastHantsDC failed to send out the declaration form…#EUelections2019 #DeniedMyVote
“I went to the polling station today and was turned away and informed about some mysterious form that no one was able to tell me more about,” said Polish national Kinga Burger.
“I’m really angry and disappointed I didn’t get to vote today.
“I actually spent a lot of time thinking which elections I should vote in and in the end I decided to vote in the UK now as I’ve lived here for over a decade and it is home,” said Burger.
Another Polish national, Piotr Klaskala, said: “What I find particularly surprising is that I could see my name and current address on the list in the polling station (which suggests that I have registered successfully) but it was crossed out.”
Another German national complained that she had registered to vote but was not told by her electoral office in Ceredigion that she needed to fill in another form.
“I’m German and registered to vote online at the same time as my British husband weeks in advance. He received a polling card but I didn’t. I found out through the media two days ago that an extra form was needed. I contacted the office, they emailed the form yesterday asking for it to be returned signed the same day which was impossible. Not even the hint of an apology or explanation from them,” said Cyrine Amor.
Andreas Jensen told the Guardian that had returned the so-called EC6 or UC1 forms, but like Sellner and Valero, turned up at his polling booth and was told he could not vote.
“I received a form, filled it out and returned it well in advance of the deadline, but never received a ballot paper … Showed up at the ballot station with passport and proof of address but was not allowed to vote,” said Jensen.
MEPs who could have benefited from EU citizens’ votes in this election have expressed alarm.
Seb Dance, a Labour MEP for London, said he was dismayed at people being denied their vote.
Seb Dance MEP ???
(@SebDance)I dismay at the posts under #deniedmyvote – we cannot let fellow citizens’ rights be taken away by an incompetent government.
If you’re an EU27 citizen USE YOUR VOTE and if you’re denied it don’t let it rest.
Two days ago the3million campaign group made a formal complaint to the electoral commission that EU citizens were being disenfranchised.
The commission said it had no legal authority to tell councils when to send out the EC6/UC1 forms or how to deal with them but that it has made recommendations to the government to overhaul and simply the system.
SNP MP Joanna Cherry has also raised concerned with Theresa May after being contacted by a number of “distressed voters” in parliament on Thursday asking her to urgently make the EC6 and UC1 forms available in polling booths. May did not respond to her specific request.
Cherry raised the issue in an early-day motion with Change UK MP Mike Gapes and MP Catherine West in parliament and has vowed to return to it after recess.
Joanna Cherry QC MP
(@joannaccherry)Today I asked @theresa_may to make sure all #EUcitizens living in the UK can vote tomorrow by making the UC1 form available at all polling stations. As PM she could do this but she refused. I wonder why? ? #EUElection2019 #the3millionVote #BrexitChaos pic.twitter.com/S3UUvFnnPO
“I suspected it was going to be an issue and I was right. That is why I asked for the forms to be put in polling stations [for Thursday]. Theresa May’s responses was completely dismissive and typical of the tenor of her responses when it comes to matters of EU citizens,” she said.
Hungarian national Doniya Soni was shocked to find she couldn’t vote after enquiring at her local council, Tower Hamlets, about the process.
“I was sent a letter via email saying I am already registered and nothing further needs to be done. However today I was turned away from the polling station – apparently European citizens had to fill out another form but I never received such a form. Furthermore, as I received a letter saying nothing further needed to be done, I was not looking out for one or chasing the council for one either.
“The council said that letter was meant only for British citizens but I explicitly stated on my online form that I’m a Hungarian citizen. Therefore, they erroneously sent me that letter leading me to falsely believe that I am eligible to vote today.
“I’m sure you can understand my frustration as European elections are one of the few that European citizens are eligible to vote for in the UK, so this outcome is disappointing at the least, enraging and suppression at the most,” she said.
Social media was awash with complaints and protest by EU citizens responding to the hashtag #deniedmyvote.
Agata Patyna was disgusted to be told she should vote in her own country.
Agata Patyna
(@APatyna)Turned away from polling station this morning. Told I should vote in my EU member state. Called local council yesterday, they confirmed I could vote. Called again today. Apparently council had no time to send out forms to all EU residents. Nothing they can do now #DeniedMyVote
