It is a disgrace that in addition to the uncertainties that EU citizens have had to endure, over the last almost 3 years since the EU referendum, some have been denied their right to vote in the European Parliament Election.
We also have first-hand reports of EU citizens being unable to vote even though they had completed and returned the required forms on time.
The SNP started pressing the UK Government on this issue before the EU Elections, as it emerged that EU citizens had not been informed they had to fill out forms to be able to vote in the EU elections.
After the election, the SNP have called for an investigation into reports that EU citizens were unable to vote in the EU Parliament elections. The Scottish Government’s Constitutional Relations Secretary Michael Russell, wrote to the Cabinet Office Minister David Liddington and the Electoral Commission and called for an inquiry to be conducted into the issue as a matter of urgency.
Any seat that is secured by only a small number of votes could be impacted by this outrageous deprivation of democratic rights.
The SNP want EU citizens in Scotland to feel settled and secure, and to continue to feel welcome and valued in Scotland. Rest assured, that we will doing everything in our power to stand up for the rights of EU citizens.