here ye go -
I received this
Our priority now is to hold the Conservatives to their manifesto promise to scrap the 15 year limit on overseas voting. A record number of overseas voters applied to register to vote at this General Election and it is now vital that the intention to put forward a bill on this issue is set out in the Queen's Speech on27 May 2015.
The 15 year limit must be scrapped and a more efficient voting system (pleas e see to this end the attached report to the Electoral Commission on the non-arrival of voting papers and other aspects of the voting system) introduced before an EU Referendum takes place. If not, many overseas citizens resident in the EU will have no vote and no say on an issue that directly affects both their personal and professional status in their EU country of residence. We do not want this manifesto promise shuffled off into the Government box of promises never opened.
What can you do to ensure that the scrapping of the 15 year rule appears in the Queen's Speech? Ideally, as a first step, every Conservative MP needs to be lobbied before 27 May:-
1. Look at the list of constituencies in red at the end of the attached report to the Electoral Commission. if you see your constituency is listed, this means this MP has already been contacted but it would be great if you could still contact that MP to reinforce the message.
2. If your constituency isn't listed, pleas e let us know that, and that you will be contacting the relevant MP. If friends/family in the UK are also prepared to contact MPs on your behalf, let us know which MPs as well.
3. In the case of either 1 or 2, let us know what you are doing by replying to this email and giving your name and constituency to us. We will use this information to confirm and record how many MPs have been contacted.
4. When writing to your MP, please copy/send an email based on the proposed message below and send it with a top priority indication to your MP.
The list of MPs is to be found here:-- Look up your constituency - even if you left it 20 years ago. Pressure must be put on the politicians to act in our interest.
http://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/WHAT YOU CAN DO!
Say this or something like....
Dear ---
Congratulations on winning the seat of .........
I am a Citizen resident abroad. David Cameron assures us that the 15 year limit on voting will be removed.
But I want to see that mentioned in the Queen's Speech. Please convey this feeling to the PM now.
In the recent election. numbers of voters were disenfranchised because the system of postal voting often failed. That also must be attended to with hopefully the introduction of an electronic voting method for Citizens Abroad.
Postscript --- Though the following is targeted towards some different form of representation other than 'first past the post', this is not the concern of our campaign which is basically 'representation in whatever form for the Citizen Abroad'. It does raise awareness of the need to generally consider how representation is achieved!
You may feel moved to add your signature to the petition raised by the young man Owen Winter. He seeks a reappraisal of the electoral system and has gained 100,000 signatures SINCE the election on May 7th - just six days!
https://goo.gl/jXe6Q4also
By the way, the service from the: office at HCINFO@parliament.uk
Is excellent if you need help to find your MP!!
there was also this report too
Report from the Campaign for Votes for Expats (The British Citizens Abroad).
compiled by Brian Cave
Abridged version of that sent to the Electoral Commission 15 May 2015
To the report sent to Electoral Commission was attached a dossier with at least 66 'complaints' which were received mostly as copies.
[That dossier contained all the complaints verbatim plus names and addresses - it is not attached to this general document]
You will see that there is listed in red at the end of this document all the Constituencies mentioned in the complaints which amount to about 10% of the total of 650.
Earlier, a form of survey was suggested to the Commission to be made of all the 650 EROs [Electoral Registration Officers] along the lines of
How many overseas voters are on their register, and in which countries do they reside.
How many asked for postal votes and proxy votes
How many postal votes and proxy votes were returned in good time
How many postal votes arrived out of time
On what date were postal votes to overseas voters posted
What franking value was used.
REGISTRATION- The method of electronic registration receives approval and is easy. Two correspondents hit difficulties when for some reason the ERO demanded a paper registration. They found it difficult/impossible to locate a local British Citizen who could affirm their application. Surely the passport number and perhaps an affirmation from a local functionary - like the maire/notaire/ doctor with an official stamp or letter heading should suffice? Further is it not sufficient to register between 6 to 12 months of an election (or less if it should be a snap election)? To do so every year is surely unnecessary.
My analysis of the situation.
1. To operate a postal vote system one would need to give at least ten days for getting to the voter and ten days back. That allows for postal delays which are aggravated by weekends and public holidays. That means they should be posted just on three weeks before the election. That means in this case they should have been posted more or less on the 17th April. Some EROs report problems with the printers causing delays!
2. The papers would need to be sent by airmail franking to places abroad. I do not think this was done in many instances. If, as I suspect, sometimes or often all, postal votes were bundled together and simply franked with UK 1st class then many got delayed by one or another postal system.
3. Often, if not usually, included with the papers was a prepaid envelope franked for UK only use. That would have normally have failed if people used it without a foreign stamp to send to the UK being also applied.
??? Could not for EUROPE at least the Europe prepaid 'ne pas franchir' franking system be used? I know Gloucestershire LEA uses this to communicate with teachers.
4. What is revealed is that large numbers of Citizens are motivated to vote. The 100,000 plus registration applications that the Electoral Commission achieved in a short time was remarkable. This Campaign (Votes for Expat Brits) did our best to help. It would be helpful to know how many of these applications were realised as voters.
These Citizens are concerned about the condition of the UK and its future.
Some were so strongly motivated that they used an expensive courier service to return the papers.
Many want to see an electronic system of voting.
Perhaps the system of postal voting should be reviewed so that it is available only to those who really need it.
Several (perhaps more, even most) do not like proxy voting. Many have no trustworthy friend/relative within the constituency, and it defeats the rule of secrecy.
Some have asked for a different method of representation such as the French have.
A number expressed a concern about a possible BREXIT and/or the democratic right to vote in the in/out Referendum. For this reason they want the 15 year limit lifted.
The 15 year limit must be lifted VERY SOON if all British Citizens resident in the EU can vote in that Referendum.
Copies of complaints probably will still arrive and they will be added to the dossier. The Electoral Commission can request an update (if such exists) at any time.
I hope and trust this report will help in the production of your own report to Government.
List of Constituencies (partly at least failed) 75 to 17th May
(+) indicates more than one failure reported
Lewisham, Ashford, Salford, Cherwell (+), North Somerset (++)
East Staffordshire, Crawley, Keighley & Ilkley, Horsham
Milton Keynes S. , Cambridge(+), Wychavon, Great Yarmouth, Birmingham City (+)
Denbigh, Eastleigh, Oxford, Fenland, Barnet
Vale of the White Horse, Andover, Maidstone, Cornwall North, Wycombe
North East Fife, Medway, Tamworth, Basildon, Woking
Bosworth, Hyndburn, Berwickshire –Roxburgh- Selkirk, Barnsley, Kensington & Chelsea
Mid-Devon, Dacorum, East Hampshire, Cheshire East, Castle Point
Kenilworth and Southam, Falkirk, Denbigh, Bromsgrove, Tendring
Northampton, West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, Torbay, Kirklees, Shropshire Council,
Romsey and Southampton North, Gosport, Surrey Heath, Harborough, East Dorset District Council
Meon Valley (+), Braintree. Selby, Hillingdon (+), Exeter,
South Norfolk, Mid-Sussex, Luton, Slough, Oldham,
Brighton Kemptown, Croydon
Stroud, Wealden, Ryedale, Northumberland, North Dorset
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Brian Cave
le Fourquet, Gourdon, 46300, France
email:- lefourquet@gmail.com
http://pensionersdebout.blogspot.com/ -Votes for Britons -http://votes-for-expat-brits.com
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