EU referendum: 'Serious concerns' over polling cards sent to non-UK nationals

Iain Duncan Smith says reports of polling cards being sent to EU migrants to the UK show 'lax' controls on voter registration

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Vote Leave campaigners have written to David Cameron to express "serious concerns" over reports some EU migrants to Britain received voting cards for the upcoming referendum.

The former cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith and Tory MP Bernard Jenkin told the Prime Minister they had been alerted by a number of concerned members of the public, saying ineligible EU citizens had reported receiving polling cards ahead of the 23 June vote.

In the letter, seen by the Independent and which was also sent to the Electoral Commission and the head of the Civil Service, the MPs say they have “serious concerns about the conduct of the European Union referendum and its franchise".

The franchise for the referendum does not include citizens from other EU countries who live in the UK, in line with similar rules for general elections.

The letter claimed there are “no checks conducted to make sure anyone applying to vote is indeed eligible”.

Mr Duncan Smith and Mr Jenkin said: “The British public will be as shocked as we are to discover that the integrity of the franchise for this long-awaited referendum… is being protected in such a lax manner.”

“We have seen an email from the Electoral Services Officer at Nottingham City Council to one of our supporters, which confirms this in clear and shocking terms: ‘If an elector lies during their registration, we are not able to check to see if the nationality is correct or not. We have to assume that the elector is submitting their correct nationality.’”

The letter follows guidance the Electoral Commission published on Wednesday, confirming EU nationals cannot vote in the referendum.

“It is an offence to knowingly give false information on a registration application. A person who knowingly provides false information could, in England and Wales, face an unlimited fine and/or up to six months in prison,” the document says.

Mr Duncan Smith and Mr Jenkin asked the prime minister if he “believes it is sensible” that no checks to verify someone’s nationality are in place.

They also called on him to estimate the scale of the problem and asked him to make clear that EU nationals are not legally allowed to vote in the referendum.

The letter ends: “Given the gravity of this issue – and the fact that postal votes are already being issued and cast – we hope you will answer these questions by noon tomorrow.”

The letter is the latest attack on the legitimacy of the vote later this month, and follows a row over voting guides and government-funded pro-EU material.