When you move abroad, take your right to vote with you

Approximately 200,000 British expatriates live in France but very few are registered to vote in the UK, according to Head of Campaigns and Public Information at the Electoral Commission, Clinton Proud:

"There are fewer than 13,500 British expatriates on the electoral register, a tiny fraction of the estimated six million Britons living abroad. Many British expats simply don’t realise that they are still eligible to vote in UK elections once they have moved abroad. But even if you are living abroad, as long as you have been registered to vote in the UK at some point within the past 15 years, you can still be on the register as an overseas voter".

"We want to reach people wherever they are on the globe and remind them that however far away from the UK they are, they still have their chance to vote back home."

Registered overseas voters are eligible to vote in elections to the UK Parliament and European Parliamentary election. The European Parliamentary elections take place on 4 June 2009, and a UK Parliamentary election can be called at any time between now and 2010.  

To mark UN international day of democracy and to make sure you have your say as to who represents you, here are three steps to registering:

• Download an overseas registration form from www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/overseas
• Sign the declaration and ask another British citizen living overseas (but not a close relative) to sign the witness declaration
• Return the completed form as soon as possible to the electoral registration office where you used to live (contact details are available at www.aboutmyvote.co.uk)

Once registered, you can vote by post, by using a proxy in the UK or, if you are in the UK on polling day, voting in person.