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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/02/referendum-voting-papers-sent-to-eu-nationals-by-mistake
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| Referendum voting papers sent to some EU nationals by mistake | Referendum voting papers sent to some EU nationals by mistake |
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| Some EU nationals have been wrongly sent postal votes and polling cards for the UK’s referendum because of a “systems issue”, the Electoral Commission has said. | Some EU nationals have been wrongly sent postal votes and polling cards for the UK’s referendum because of a “systems issue”, the Electoral Commission has said. |
| The mistake means a number of EU nationals will have their votes cancelled and receive letters explaining they are not eligible to take part in the 23 June poll after all. | The mistake means a number of EU nationals will have their votes cancelled and receive letters explaining they are not eligible to take part in the 23 June poll after all. |
| It is not yet known how many people are affected by the problem, but a spokesman for the Electoral Commission said it had only found a “handful” at this point. | |
| The admission comes after Iain Duncan Smith, a leading Brexit campaigner and former work and pensions secretary, told the commission and David Cameron that he was hearing worrying reports from a number of sources of EU nationals receiving polling cards. | |
| UK residents can only be eligible to vote in the referendum if they are citizens of the UK, another Commonwealth country or Ireland. | UK residents can only be eligible to vote in the referendum if they are citizens of the UK, another Commonwealth country or Ireland. |
| The Electoral Commission admitted in an email seen by the Guardian that there had been a problem with classification of voter nationality that meant some EU nationals had been sent postal votes and polling cards. | The Electoral Commission admitted in an email seen by the Guardian that there had been a problem with classification of voter nationality that meant some EU nationals had been sent postal votes and polling cards. |
| It said Xpress, an electoral software supplier to a number of councils, had confirmed that nationality may not have been set correctly for some voters. | It said Xpress, an electoral software supplier to a number of councils, had confirmed that nationality may not have been set correctly for some voters. |
| Related: Have you experienced issues registering to vote in the EU referendum? | |
| “Xpress have confirmed that they are in the process of issuing a patch for their system that will fix the issue,” it said. “They have now written to all their customers and will issue the patch later this evening (1 June 2016). The patch will cancel any postal votes that have been wrongly issued to electors … in terms of numbers affected, they could not confirm exact numbers, but obviously this will vary by local authority. Of the two areas they had looked at, one had one elector who was affected, the other had six.” | “Xpress have confirmed that they are in the process of issuing a patch for their system that will fix the issue,” it said. “They have now written to all their customers and will issue the patch later this evening (1 June 2016). The patch will cancel any postal votes that have been wrongly issued to electors … in terms of numbers affected, they could not confirm exact numbers, but obviously this will vary by local authority. Of the two areas they had looked at, one had one elector who was affected, the other had six.” |
| The Electoral Commission declined to release any more details but said there would be a reply to Duncan Smith published on its website shortly. | The Electoral Commission declined to release any more details but said there would be a reply to Duncan Smith published on its website shortly. |