“Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to vote at the British Embassy in Vienna!”

“Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to vote at the British Embassy in Vienna!”

After three days of the news breaking of the date for the referendum, I woke up in the middle of the night and took a look at a thread on the Facebook Group “British in Vienna and the Surrounding Areas” – a Facebook group which I try to hold at arm’s length, like many other Facebook groups, because of the some of the bizarre posts that pop up on a regular basis. The group means well – and is at least more level-headed than the toxic Foreigners in Vienna, but from time to time trolls surface. From one user’s very reasonable question about how/where can I vote in/from Vienna – a valid concern for many an Expat with a UK passport – the old chestnut of “Voting at the Embassy” popped up. Other countries may do this, but our electoral system does not make this a realistic prospect. I’d already had SMSes from three Expats asking or presuming that they woulld be able to vote at the embassy. My reply was as follows: Continue reading ““Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to vote at the British Embassy in Vienna!””