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BRITS IN AUSTRIA

The key deadlines Brits in Europe need to know to vote in the UK election

The UK will go to the polls on July 4th, but there are a few important dates for Brits abroad to keep track of if they want to make sure their vote will be counted.

Published: 4 June 2024 17:05 CEST
Updated: 4 June 2024 18:40 CEST
The key deadlines Brits in Europe need to know to vote in the UK election
If you're voting in person, polls will be open from 7am-10pm on July 4th. Photo: Adrian Dennis/AFP

June 18th

The deadline for registering to vote is 11:59pm on June 18th, but overseas voters are advised to register earlier in order to leave time to arrange a postal or proxy vote, if they need one.

Most people who are eligible can register to vote online. It takes around 5 minutes. If you previously lost the right to vote due to living outside the UK for more than 15 years, you should register here instead. People from Northern Ireland have to register on paper.

June 19th

Registering to vote is only the first step – you’ll also need to choose how you want to vote.

There are two possible options for Brits living overseas. You can opt for a postal vote, where you’re sent a ballot paper which will need to reach the polls by polling day, or ask for a proxy vote, where a UK-based voter you trust can vote on your behalf.

You can also travel back to the UK on election day and vote in person in the constituency where you’re registered, but unless you just happened to be planning a visit home at that time anyway, it’s probably more convenient to apply for one of the two above options.

The Electoral Commission recommends overseas voters to apply for a proxy vote.

You can apply for a postal vote by post or online. Your application must reach the electoral office by 5pm on June 19th, no matter which option you choose.

You may prefer to opt for the proxy option, in which you authorise someone else to vote for you. Your proxy can either opt to vote in-person at your polling station or they can ask for a postal vote on your behalf. 

Again, you can apply by post or online. If applying by post, your application needs to reach your local Electoral Registration Office by 5pm on June 19th.

June 26th

If you apply for a proxy vote online you’ve got a bit more time, but you’ll still need to submit your application by 5pm on June 26th.

July 4th

Polls close at 10pm on July 4th, so you’ll need to make sure your ballot reaches your local Electoral Office by this deadline, or that you or your proxy casts your vote in-person before then.

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ELECTIONS

Former French president Hollande says Macron ascendency ‘is over’

French President Emmanuel Macron's ascendancy is "over", former head of state Francois Hollande told AFP Saturday, after his former protege called a snap election likely to hand massive gains to the far right.

Published: 22 June 2024 17:45 CEST
Former French president Hollande says Macron ascendency 'is over'

“I have no scores to settle at all. That’s all in the past,” Hollande said on the campaign trail in his native Correze department in central France, where he is standing to be an MP.

Suffering at the time from abysmal poll ratings, Socialist Hollande did not himself stand for a second term at the 2017 election.

Running as a pro-business centrist, his former economy minister Macron pulled off a surprise win that shattered traditional governing parties on the left and the right.

Now just two years into the younger man’s second term, “Macronism is over, if indeed it ever existed. But it’s over, I say it with no special hostility,” Hollande said.

“I don’t mean that his presidential term is coming to an end, that’s something different. But what he may have represented for a time is over,” he added.

Re-elected in 2022 for a second five-year term, Macron lost his absolute majority in parliament in legislative polls the same year.

His party has limped on in minority government, passing hard-fought and controversial reforms including raising the pension age and toughening immigration law.

But a heavy defeat at June 9’s European Parliament election prompted Macron to dissolve parliament in hopes of breaking the deadlock.

READ ALSO: French left vows new taxes as snap election draws near

A new chamber will be elected on June 30 and July 7 with the far-right National Rally (RN) looking set to win the most seats.

‘Heavy cost’

France’s two-round electoral system makes predicting outcomes tricky, but it is highly unlikely that Macron’s gamble will pay off by winning a new majority.

Instead, he could find himself presiding over a government run by an ideological opponent.

Macron’s rule has “had a heavy political cost,” Hollande said.

“The parties were heavily damaged and public morale was too. The far right has never been so strong.”

Hollande’s Socialist party has formed an electoral alliance with other left parties including Greens, Communists and hard-left France Unbowed (LFI).

Their New Popular Front (NFP) is currently running second to the RN in the polls, both well ahead of Macron’s Renaissance outfit.

“It’s time for a political realignment,” Hollande said.

READ ALSO: OPINION: France has taken leave of its senses, and it’s no laughing matter

“I didn’t plan to stand for any election in my position, something very serious had to happen” in the shape of the RN’s more than 31 percent in the European election, he added.

Some Socialist voters have struggled with the idea of backing an alliance with LFI and its fiery leader Jean-Luc Melenchon, with some party figures accused of anti-Semitism and a history of Eurosceptic statements.

“I’m in the framework of an alliance because it has to be done, but there’s no kind of confusion” between his positions and Melenchon’s, Hollande said.

If elected, “I’ll be an MP who will call for responsibility whatever happens… vigilant and committed to finding solutions,” he added.

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