Our Home Our Vote

We believe all residents, no matter where they are from, should have the right to vote in local elections in the UK. A residence-based voting rights policy is already in place in Scotland and Wales. The Our Home Our Vote campaign has been advocating for the levelling up of voting rights across the UK.

the3million has always encouraged the political participation of EU citizens and all migrants in the UK. We have carried our voter registration drives across the UK, with a special focus on Northampton, Peterborough, and Corby after our research showed low levels of political participation of EU citizens in these areas. Unfortunately, the Government’s Elections Act makes it even more difficult for us to democratically engage with our communities.

In 2021, the Government announced the Elections Bill, causing concern to EU citizens in the UK as their voting rights were restricted. The Bill meant that only EU citizens who arrived in the UK before the 31st of December 2021 would continue having the automatic right to vote in local elections in England and Northern Ireland. 

Our campaign called for the extension of the franchise. We worked with the Democracy Defence Coalition and secured two amendments in Parliament calling for residence-based voting rights.

Even though the Elections Act passed without our amendments, we are still campaigning for residence-based voting rights. We are building coalitions with other organisations and alliances with supportive politicians. We are also delivering informative campaigns so everyone knows about the changes in voter eligibility brought by the Act.

Campaign updates can be found also on Migrant Democracy website.