THOUSANDS of EU citizens in Swindon could be deprived of their right to vote in elections after the UK leaves the European Union.

EU citizens living in Swindon are currently entitled to vote in European Parliament and local government elections.

But this could change after Brexit, set to happen on October 31 at 11pm.

Steve Rouse from Swindon for Europe said: “Their rights will be far inferior after Brexit. EU citizens from some countries will not be able to postal vote to home elections either

.”

Swindon voted 54,7 per cent in favour of leave in the 2016 referendum, a poll EU citizens were not allowed to take part in.

Steve said: “EU citizens are in serious trouble. I would imagine other EU countries will regard UK with suspicion in the future. Most young people were born with an EU passport and all their citizen’s rights. Many have never known anything else. And now those living in the UK will be losing their rights.”

UK citizens living in the EU might also lose their reciprocal voting rights. Agreements have been reached only with three EU countries - Spain, Luxembourg and Portugal.

And this means that 12,275 voters in Swindon are at risk of losing their right to vote after Brexit.

The figures exclude those with dual nationality in the UK, Irish citizens, who can vote in all UK elections, and people from Malta and Cyprus, which are Commonwealth countries.

The 3Million, an organisation which campaigns for EU citizen’s rights in the UK, made voting rights one of the campaign group’s key objectives.

Maike Bohn from The3million said: “Some people, because of the way electoral law works in their home countries, will have no right to vote there either. Many will lose the right to vote in European elections.

“There are some people who will lose the right to any form of democratic representation – and that is unacceptable in the 21st century.

“The referendum has already shown what happens when you don’t have a voice.”

Some British expats and citizens of other EU member states living in the UK faced difficulties when trying to vote in the European parliamentary elections on May 23.

The commission said the problems were caused by the Government’s delay in implementing electoral changes it had first recommended in 2014

.

A spokesperson for the Department for Exiting the European Union said: “

We have now reached bilateral agreements with Spain, Portugal and Luxembourg and have made positive progress with a number of other member states.”