1. A referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union will be held by the end of 2017. It could even be this year – the date hasn’t been announced yet.
2. If you were registered to vote in the UK within the last 15 years, then you can register as an overseas voter and have your say.#yourvotematters.
3. Go to www.gov.uk/register-to-vote and fill in your data. All you need is your National Insurance number, passport details and date of birth. (Even if you don’t have an NI number, you can still register.)
4. Choose how you want to vote – by post, proxy, or even in person if you will be in the UK on polling day. If you choose to vote by post, ballot forms will be despatched about one month ahead, giving you time to receive, complete and return your vote to the UK.
5. Do register early, so you have done it well before the referendum date is announced. If you wait, you may miss your chance to have your say.
6. Just as in the UK, you need to register annually. So if you registered as an overseas voter for last year’s General Election, you need to renew your registration for the EU vote.
7. Out of 283,000 Britons officially resident in Spain, just 11,000 were registered to vote in last year’s General Election. Many British expats could miss out on the EU referendum, so tell your friends and family to register too.
8. Use Facebook and Twitter to pass the message on that #yourvotematters.
Go to www.gov.uk/register-to-vote – make sure you can have your say
