As noted in previous posts there are a lot of elections happening in 2024 – and long-term UK expats have had the vote returned to them. Some news updates on voting at home and away have recently come in.

Resources for UK voters

The UK Embassy in Belgium has issued a briefing on British citizens overseas and how they can vote in UK parliamentary elections.

As we reported earlier new legislation is now in force which means that since 16 January, British citizens can now register to vote in UK Parliamentary elections, no matter how long ago they left the UK. This right to vote includes UK Parliament general elections, by-elections and recall petitions. Previously, only British citizens who had been registered in the UK within the past 15 years were eligible to vote.

This is a key Government policy which changes the franchise for British citizens overseas and is an important part of upholding democracy.

The body leading on communicating this change is the UK’s Electoral Commission. They have developed a variety of information resources that can be found here: Overseas voting: resources for British citizens overseas | Electoral Commission

Expat voting in Brussels to become easier?

The Brussels parliament has recently adopted a non-binding resolution that will make it easier for non-Belgians, who make up a third of the population in the Brussels region, to participate in local elections.

The resolution would allow expats to be automatically registered to vote at the same time as they register at their commune for the first time. The resolution would include harmonisation of information provided about elections, which currently differs between communes, monitoring of participation in elections, and retrospectively contacting those who don’t vote. The resolution also calls for expats to be allowed to vote in regional, not just local, elections.

Here is an explainer from our friends at Restless Brussels. However, the resolution is non-binding, and would have to be enacted by the new Brussels regional government following the elections this year.