The mass disenfranchisement of EU citizens and Britons abroad from last May's European elections represents a cautionary test case which British democracy has spectacularly failed.
This coming May, local elections will take place in 118 English local councils, as well as for 8 directly elected mayors in England and 40 police and crime commissioners in England and Wales.
There will also be an election to the London Assembly in conjunction with the London mayoral election.
We are campaigning to make sure the mass disenfranchisement that took place last May does not occur again.
Many barriers remain to participation:
- misunderstandings about post Brexit voting rights,
- late registrations or failure to register at all,
- legislation to exclude EU citizens post Brexit
Britain cannot be allowed to create exclusion zones for democracy.
The voice and the votes of all citizens must be heard - nothing short of that is good enough in a free, open and democratic society.
And yet the UK fell well below these standards in May 2019 and could do so again in May 2020.
Help us campaign to expose the full facts about why so many people were not able to vote last year.
Support our campaign to make sure the current voting rights of EU citizens are protected and if possible extended to they can be included in the franchise for General Elections.
The measure of a democracy is not how may voices can be shut out put rather how many voices can be brought in.
That is why the legacy of #DeniedMyVote must be a cross-party and public consensus that it should never happen again and government guarantees to safeguard the voting rights of all.
We are working for that and will continue to do so in 2020 - we will not let the #DeniedMyVote matter rest.
Support us by joining New Europeans as a member.
Or by contributing to our fighting fund by chipping in on the link below.
With thanks and best regards and wishing you all the best for 2020.
Roger Casale, New Europeans