Government 'did not breach law' at European elections

Campaigners with the3million outside court fighting the #DeniedMyVote court case. - Credit: Contributed

Campaigners who represent EU citizens living in the UK say they are taking stock after losing a High Court fight over the 2019 European Parliament elections.

The3million, which campaigns for an estimated three million EU citizens living in the UK, complained that people were prevented from voting in the 2019 European Parliament elections because of onerous registration requirements.

Leaders took legal action against the Cabinet Office and wanted judges to declare that the government acted unlawfully

Lawyers representing the Cabinet Office disputed the claims and two judges ruled against the3million on Thursday.

Lord Justice Lewis and Sir Michael Supperstone, who had considered evidence at a High Court hearing in London in January, concluded that that registration arrangement had not breached EU law.

A spokeswoman for the3million said leaders were “deeply disappointed”.

“The court accepted some EU citizens were denied their vote, but was unwilling to draw any conclusions about the numbers,” she said.

“The case shows that, even though we have evidence of thousands of EU citizens being unable to vote due to the procedures controlled directly by the government, proving systemic discrimination in court is incredibly hard to achieve.”

She added: “We find it hard to reconcile the findings in the judgment with what happened to us in 2019.

“However, EU citizens are facing a growing set of challenges and we are now taking stock of our options.”