EURef: Disenfranchised Brits lose in High Court
By Antony Hook in Liberal Democrat Voice
Originally published by South Lincolnshire Liberal Democrats
In a test case brought by two British citizens who have lives outside the UK for more than 15 years, the High Court has rules that the state can deny them the right to vote.
It is estimated that 700,000 people are affected by the decision. The Conservatives have pledged to scrap the restriction for future elections (in which they calculate it will assist them).
The court ruled that Parliament is entitled to restrict the franchise to those with a specified "closeness" to the country and also said it would be difficult to amend the register to include the new voters as a database of them is not kept.
The latter point seems doubtful. New voters are added to the register frequently. Most registrations are accepted on their face. There is not usually an external register of people who could register to vote against which it is checked.
The claimants' solicitors are applying for permission to appeal to to the Supreme Court.
* Antony Hook was #2 on the South East European list in 2014, is the English Party's representative on the Federal Executive and produces this sites EU Referendum Roundup.