A Lib Dems Abroad Win for the British Overseas Voter!
2024 LIB DEM AUTUMN CONFERENCE
F29 Fair Votes Now – Monday 16th September 09.00–09.45
George Cunningham, Chair, Lib Dems Abroad
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Conference,
Nice to be here!
I am pleased to be addressing you today as the Chair of Lib Dems Abroad Steering Committee, representing with our team almost 1,000 Lib Dem members based overseas.
First of all, it’s great that the party continues its commitment in this motion to creating overseas constituencies. Overseas constituents are much better off having their own MPs with an understanding of their issues to represent them better.
My thanks to our MPs as well for having already submitted an early day motion on overseas constituencies this month. We must lobby the Government to try and make this change in adequate time before the next General Election, if at all possible.
Conference,
We have added an amendment to his excellent motion to assist the effective exercise of overseas voting. Let me tell you why this is so important.
We all believe in the principle of equality before the law. This is never more important than when it comes to exercising our democratic rights.
Overseas British voters must be part of our Fair Deal.
Lib Dems Abroad works with hundreds of British overseas residents. We know many are still passionately committed to Britain and its future, for their own sakes, and for the sake of those family and friends they still have living inside the UK.
Firstly our amendment highlights the abject failure of the past Government’s policy to recognise that.
Of the 3.5 million Britons resident overseas being entitled to vote, we believe merely around 200-300,000 exercised that right. During the last general election, insufficient effort was made in informing them about their rights, and how to exercise them, especially amongst the newly-enfranchised.
Despite the best efforts of Lib Dems Abroad, along with others, we believe only between 6 to 8% of them registered to vote.
And that’s why we call for the Electoral Commission to be provided adequate budget for effective communications to electors overseas as well as at home. We need much more publicity than last time – and well ahead of the next general election - to get people registered and explained the options they have for voting.
And critically, in the 21st century, let’s stop the chaos of ballots being delivered overseas using snail mail. We also need to allow as options:
- Secure electronic delivery of ballot papers.
- Voting at British Embassies, Consulates and High Commissions, as many other countries do.
- And heavily promote proxy voting.
These are the only ways thousands of ballots won’t be lost by not arriving in the UK by polling day, as happened to our shame just now. Local councils, littered with piles of unopened ballot papers from abroad after polling day, can and must be avoided.
Conference,
My fellow Liberal Democrats, it is time our overseas citizens are treated equally. It is a core principle of Liberal Democrat philosophy that ALL people deserve the same rights before the law. That is what our simple amendment achieves. I urgently commend them to you for your overwhelming approval.
END