[Bouncr: 3v394] Some EU Nationals Have Received EU Referendum Polling Cards Despite

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There have been multiple reports of EU nationals receiving polling cards for the upcoming EU referendum, despite not being eligible to vote on 23 June.

BuzzFeed News is aware of at least one case.

The official campaign to exit the EU, Vote Leave, has now written to David Cameron expressing "serious concerns" – and has asked the prime minister to look into the issue. It will also be writing to the Electoral Commission.

The commission has made it clear that an ineligible EU national who votes in the referendum would potentially be breaking the law.

"As part of the registration application process, all applicants are asked to give their nationality. It is an offence to knowingly give false information on a registration application," the commission said in a statement. "A person who knowingly provides false information could, in England and Wales, face an unlimited fine and/or up to six months in prison."

It said there are controls in place for when a voter casts a ballot in person.

"A poll card does not entitle someone to vote. In order to be able to cast their vote, a person must appear on the electoral register and be shown on it as being eligible to vote. A person's eligibility is always checked by polling station staff before issuing a ballot paper and if they are not eligible, no ballot paper will be issued."

However, it is unclear whether there are checks in place for when someone votes by post.

The Leave campaign claims to have seen an email from the Electoral Services Officer at Nottingham City Council to one of its supporters, which confirms the difficulty.

"If an elector lies during their registration, we are not able to check to see if the nationality is correct or not," the email said. "We have to assume that the elector is submitting their correct nationality."

The Electoral Commission told BuzzFeed News that it will be responding to the letter, and addressing concerns later today.

At the last general election, more than 7.5 million postal votes were issued – nearly 16.5% of the entire electorate.

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