European elections: Government faces legal challenge amid fears millions of EU citizens could lose right to vote

Chaos surrounding the date of the UK’s departure from the EU means the form for EU citizens' voting was only sent to 2 million European nationals on the electoral register a few weeks before the deadline – instead of the usual four-month period. A leading organisation, representing EU citizens in the UK, has urged ministers to take immediate action to remedy the situation – or face potential legal action. Roger Casale, secretary general of the New Europeans, said: “Because of the very tight timetable, we would urge the government to allow those EU citizens on the electoral roll, who miss the current 7 May deadline, to fill in the required UC1 declaration forms when they arrive at their local polling stations on 23 May.”