Today is Overseas Voter Day, so are you registered?

The UK general election is to be held on May 7.

The UK government has stepped up its efforts to secure greater numbers of expat voters ahead of May’s general election, and has earmarked today – Thursday February 5 – as Overseas Voter Day…

You may not have heard of it, but that is largely because the Electoral Commission only recently settled upon today’s date. The purpose of Overseas Voter Day is to inform British expats that they still in fact have the right to vote in the upcoming general election (aside from those that have lived overseas for more than 15 years), and so the campaign has targeted 100,000 British expats to sign up to vote as an Overseas Voter.

A previous drive to attract the expat vote fell flat. Last May, in an effort to drum up interest in the European and local elections, the Electoral Commission gained a mere 7,079 new signatories, which is a mere drop in the ocean of the estimated 5.5 million Brits who live overseas.

As of March last year, just 15,849 British expats were registered to vote in UK elections, but the commission hopes to persuade thousands more to sign up by making it easier for Brits living abroad to vote.

Online registration to vote was introduced in June, and the coming months should see a steady stream of Brits sign up to vote as election fever draws near. The commission will begin today its campaign to demonstrate how easy – and important – it is for British expats to vote in the election, using social media, radio and TV ads and adverts in expat newspapers to spread the message.

“A lot of people aren’t aware that it is possible to register as an overseas voter for the general election,” said Alex Robertson, Director of Communications at the Electoral Commission. “We need to challenge that misconception that once you’ve moved overseas you can’t take part. Many people can and now it is easier than ever to take the first step by going online.”

By registering online, you can choose to vote by post, in person at your local embassy or consulate, or arrange a vote by proxy. To do so, simply visit gov.uk/register-to-vote and follow the simple onscreen instructions.

In December, Prime Minister David Cameron issued a personal plea to all expats not to neglect their right to vote, but his calls fell on deaf ears in many parts of the world amid claims by many expats that their rights to vote have either been eroded (under the controversial 15-year rule) or they were being unduly punished for living in a warmer country (the scrapping of the winter fuel allowance for pensioners residing in countries where the average temperature is higher than Britain’s).