British expatriates in the Kingdom will be able to vote in their country's general elections in May.

The Electoral Commission has started registration for overseas absentee voting, a British Embassy official told Arab News on Thursday.

“This week, the EC launched an online voter registration campaign to promote overseas voter registration of British citizens, ahead of the general elections that will be held on May 7,” she said.

“To mark the start of the campaign and in a bid to boost the number of British voters living in a foreign country, the elections watchdog hosted overseas voter registration on Thursday. This will be the first election to provide online voting registration,” she said.

An estimated 5.5 million British nationals live outside the country, with fewer than 20,000 currently registered as voters, she said. “A lot of people are unaware of the overseas voter registration option. We need to debunk the misconception that once you moved overseas you cannot take part in your country’s elections. Now it is easier than ever to avoid this by registering online.”