重磅！歐盟選舉剝奪英國公民投票權，300萬選民徹底炸鍋…

EU elections: Citizens in UK say they were denied right to vote

歐盟選舉：居住在英國的歐洲公民稱他們被剝奪了投票權

來源：CNN 翻譯：世界播

Hundreds of EU citizens living in Britain have been turned away at polling stations as they attempted to vote in the European elections on Thursday, campaigners say.

活動人士稱，數百名居住在英國的歐盟公民試圖在周四的歐洲選舉中投票，但卻被投票站拒之門外。

Voters reported confusion with the process for participation in the elections, failings by local councils, and names being crossed off voting lists at polling stations.

選民們反映稱，他們對參與選舉的程序感到困惑和不解，其中包括地方議會的失誤，以及他們在投票站選民名單上的名字被劃掉。

Hours after the polls opened, the hashtag #DeniedMyVote began to trend on Twitter as European nationals began reporting they had been turned away.

就在投票開始幾小時後，歐洲公民抱怨說他們被投票站拒之門外，與此同時，推特上的「拒絕讓我投票」這個話題熱度開始逐漸上升。

Campaigners fear the number of EU nationals denied a vote will be in the thousands by the time polls close on Thursday evening.

活動人士擔心，到周四晚間投票結束時，被拒絕投票的歐盟公民人數將達到數千人。

Maike Bohn, the co-founder of the3million, a campaign group which represents EU nationals living in the UK, told CNN the situation reflects "a serious democratic deficit" on the part of British authorities.

歐盟在英僑民維權組織「那三百萬人」的聯合創始人麥克?博恩告訴CNN，這種情況反映了英國當局「嚴重的民主赤字」。

EU nationals who live in the UK can participate in European elections but must make a written declaration, known as a UC1/EC6 form, that guarantees they will not vote in their home country.

居住在英國的歐盟公民可以參加歐洲選舉，但必須提交一份書面聲明，即UC1/EC6表格，以說明他們無法在他們的出生國進行投票。

It appears that the unplanned delay to the Brexit process has contributed to the confusion. Britain"s participation in the 2019 European elections was only confirmed last month, after the country"s failure to agree a deal to leave the EU by the original March 29 deadline.

英國退歐進程的意外推遲似乎加劇了這種混亂局面。英國未能在原定於3月29日的最後期限前達成退歐協議，直到上個月才確認將參加2019年的歐洲選舉。

Campaigners accuse British authorities of failing to inform EU citizens that they had to complete an extra step to guarantee their right to vote.

活動人士指責英國當局未能告知歐盟公民，他們必須完成一個額外的步驟來確保他們的投票權。

A number of Members of Parliament (MPs) expressed alarm over the reports. Joanna Cherry of the Scottish National Party said on Twitter: "There"s something very rotten at the heart of British politics when EU citizens resident here are being denied their right to vote."

一些國會議員對選民的這些反映表示擔憂。蘇格蘭民族黨的喬安娜?切里在推特上發帖稱：「當居住在英國的歐盟公民被剝奪投票權時，就已經顯示英國政治的核心已變得非常腐朽。」

The Labour MP and shadow foreign minister Catherine West called it a "national scandal."

工黨議員兼影子外交部長凱瑟琳?韋斯特稱這已經成了一樁「國家醜聞」。

Three EU nationals who spoke to CNN told of confusion over the process for participating in the poll.

接受CNN採訪的三名歐盟公民表示，他們對參與投票的過程感到困惑。

Swedish citizen Lina Dencik, who lives in southwestern city of Bristol, told CNN that she was turned away from the polling booth because the documentation had not reached her before the May 7 voter registration deadline for EU citizens.

居住在西南部城市布里斯托爾的瑞典公民莉娜?登西克告訴CNN，她被投票站拒之門外的原因是，在5月7日歐盟公民選民登記截止日期之前，她還沒有收到任何相關文件。

"When I went to the polling station this morning, my name had been crossed out on the list and I was told I was not eligible to vote as a European citizen," she said.

她指出：「今天早上我去投票站的時候，我的名字已經從名單上劃掉了，我被告知我沒有資格以歐洲公民的身份參與投票。」

"I challenged this and the patrolling officer provided me with an emergency number to call. I called this number and was told that a form to declare that I would not be voting in Sweden had not been sent out in time and that I am therefore not able to vote."

「於是我對此提出了質疑，然後巡警給了我一個緊急電話號碼。我後來撥打了這個號碼，但卻被告知，由於我沒有及時提交一份申明我無法在瑞典進行投票的填報單，因此我被剝奪了投票權。」

Emeline Mimie Morin, a French national who lectures at the University of Stirling in central Scotland, who has lived in the UK for 10 years, said her inability to vote amounted to "disenfranchisement." She had also called a helpline number provided, she said.

在蘇格蘭中部斯特林大學授課的法國人埃米琳?米米?莫林已經在英國生活了10年。她表示，她不能投票就相當於她被「剝奪了選舉權」，她稱她也撥打了提供給選民的熱線電話。

"The woman on the phone did see me as registered and put me on hold for a while. After a few minutes she explained that there was a form I should have filled in as a EU citizen but hadn"t, and there was nothing they could do," she said.

「電話那頭的女人查詢到我確實已經是註冊選民，然後她讓我稍等一下。幾分鐘後，她解釋說，有一份我應該以歐盟公民身份填寫的申報單，但我並未填寫，他們也無能為力。」

"I asked where this form was so that I could fill it and this would not happen again. She did not answer but dismissed my question, staring that there was no point, the form was only for European elections and it was unlikely we would need it again with Brexit."

「我問這張表在哪裡，好讓我填好，這樣就不會再發生類似的事情了。她沒有回答我的問題，只是駁回了我的提問，她認為現在已經沒有任何意義了，這種形式只適用於歐洲選舉，在英國退歐之後，我們不太可能再需要它。」

The3Million blames Britain"s Electoral Commission and the government for mishandling the issue.

300萬選民指責英國選舉委員會和政府在這個問題上處理不當。

In a letter sent to the head of the commission, it said that the commission had reneged on a 2014 promise to send the form to all registered EU citizens. It also complained of vague and confusing information that did not make it clear that EU citizens had to complete an extra step to register.

在一封致歐盟委員會主席的信中寫道，歐盟委員會違背了2014年向所有註冊歐盟公民發送該表格的承諾。裡面還抱怨稱，相關信息含糊不清，令人困惑，而且也沒有明文規定說歐盟公民必須完成額外的登記步驟。

"We maintain that the Electoral Commission"s lack of clear guidance has led to an inconsistent approach by local authorities to the registration process for EU27 citizens," the letter added.

信中補充道：「我們堅持認為，選舉委員會缺乏明確的指導，導致地方當局對歐盟27國公民的登記程序採取了前後矛盾的做法」。

A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission said it had recommended changes to the process but said it was powerless to act without changes to the law. "The process for EU citizens could be improved and we made recommendations to improve the process following the 2014 European Parliamentary election," the spokesperson said. But those improvements were "reliant on changes to electoral law, which can only be taken forward by government and Parliament."

選舉委員會的一位發言人表示，該委員會已建議對選舉程序進行修改，但表示如果不修改法律，它將無力採取行動。這位發言人還表示：「歐盟公民的投票程序原本是可以得到改進的，而且我們很早之前就建議在2014年歐洲議會選舉後改進這一程序」。但是，這些改進「依賴於選舉法的修改，只有政府和議會才能推動這項修改。」

The spokesperson suggested the commission not have time to follow up on its recommendations as the UK government only confirmed it would be taking part in the European elections on May 7.

這位發言人指出，歐盟委員會沒有時間對其建議採取後續行動，因為英國政府只是確認將參加5月7日的歐洲選舉。

"I should point out that our recommendations were made before the EU referendum. After the referendum, the UK government was clear that the European Parliamentary elections in 2019 would not take place."

「我必須提請大家注意的是，我們的建議是在歐盟公投之前提出的。公投之後，英國政府明確表示，該國不會參加2019年的歐洲議會選舉。」

The spokesperson said that the information about the form could be downloaded from its website, adding that it had also advised council electoral registration officers to identify European voters and send them the form.

發言人稱，有關選舉表格的資料可從其網站上下載，並補充道，選舉委員會也已要求議會選舉登記主任篩選出那些歐洲選民，以便把表格寄給他們。

Bohn maintained that while the time frame was tight, the commission could clearly see the problem brewing.

博恩堅持認為，雖然時間緊迫，但歐盟委員會可以清楚地看到這個日漸顯露的問題。

"What you have in theory is 3 million people disenfranchised," Bohn told CNN. "A lot of people [EU citizens living in the UK] proactively found out what to do, but hundreds or thousands of people simply would not have known it and can you blame them?"

博恩告訴CNN：「從理論上講，有300萬人被剝奪了公民選舉投票權，儘管有很多居住在英國的歐盟公民會主動去了解應該要怎麼做，但成千上萬的人根本不知道，你能責怪他們嗎？」

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