The student guide to the EU referendum

In case you’ve not heard, the referendum as to whether the UK will remain in or leave the European Union (EU) is on 23rd June.

Here’s the Purple Frog guide to why it’s important, what the arguments are and how to take part.

Why it’s important

Usually we don’t get asked. The big, world-changing stuff, the bits that get written down in the unreturned library book that is history are usually decided by governments and bureaucrats.

Not many decisions are ‘once in a lifetime’ and truly historic. This is one of them.

There’s only been two other referendums when the whole of the adult population of the United Kingdom got a say. The first one ever was in 1975. And that was to decide whether Britain should stay in the European Economic Community (which is the old and less catchy name for the EU).

The second was in 2011, when the UK went to the polls to decide whether we should change the way we voted in general elections.

Now, 41 years after the UK decided to stay in the EU, we’re being given another opportunity to say whether the UK should say our goodbyes or keep going as part of the Union.

But, according to the Guardian, 5000 students are going to miss their opportunity to make their opinion heard.

Don’t be one of them.

To help you get to your date with destiny, we’ve put together a guide of everything you need to know.

Brexit or Bremain?

Politics always operates in the swirl of heated debate. But the EU Referendum vote has been a particularly rich brew of doom-mongering and ‘free ice cream tomorrow’ speechifying.

People as diverse as Barack Obama and my seventy year old neighbour are voicing strong views about Britain’s place in the EU. (Although Clive’s comments remain unreported in the press).

If anything, this proves just how important this vote is – it really will change our world.

But what are the arguments?

Both sides have got websites that argue their cases. And not a minute goes by without a Facebook share, Twitter post or angry call to a radio phone in slipping more opinion into the mix. Apparently even Yeesus has got involved, but that might be a spurious claim.

You can see the main arguments for and against leaving the EU here:

Staying in: Stronger In

Leaving: Vote Leave

What are the facts?

If you’re keen to cut through the BS and general frothing, where to start?

When in doubt, the BBC is always a good place to begin. The Beeb has been fact checking a lot of the claims that are being made by both sides.

Their researchers are crunching the numbers to test the truth behind claims such as how belonging to the EU affects the British economy, law and immigration. Plus, plenty on the side issues like whether EU membership means cheaper roaming charges and if EU regulations restrict the number of bananas you can buy.

Check the claims the politicos are making, here.

The BBC has also created a handy guide to the EU referendum.

The UK’s other public service broadcaster has got a fact checker too. This one comes with a comment section, so you can join in the debate. Or if you want to ask your own question, follow them on Twitter at @factcheck.

If you’re looking for the York Notes version of the debate, you could do worse than The Week. The journalists at the magazine have boiled down the main arguments to give you a great idea of who’s saying what.

Having your say

Am I eligible to vote?

If you answer yes to the following questions, you are eligible to vote:

• Are you 18 years old on 23rd June 2016?
• Are you a British citizen?
• Do you live in the UK?

But…

You can’t just turn up

Because of things like electoral fraud and laws and the like, you can’t just rock up to your local polling station armed with your opinions and expect to vote in the EU referendum.

To be eligible to vote you will need to register as a voter first.

You need to do this by 7th June.

Fortunately, it’s easy to do. There’s an online form you can fill in.

Grab your National Insurance Number, as you’ll need it. (If you’re thinking where the flip have I put that, don’t worry: you can get it by calling the helpline.)

Got it? Great. You are now ready to register. Don’t worry, we’ll wait here.

Great, well done!

Yeah, but…

You can only vote in a place that you are registered to vote. That means if you are registered to vote at home, but you’ll be living in your university house in June, then you will need to register as a voter in your university house, too.

Don’t worry if you’ve just realised that you’ve registered in the wrong place. You can register in as many places as you live. But you can only vote once.

Heck, I’ll be at Glastonbury. Can I vote there?

Firstly: jealous.

Secondly. No.

There’s no voting booths at Glasto.

But you can apply for a postal vote.

You’ll need to do that soon, though. So click here, now to download your form (the link’s to the actual PDF form).

You’ll need to send the completed form to your local electoral office.

And you’ll need to buy a stamp.

To be eligible, you need to register by the 7th June to vote in the EU referendum. And your application for a postal vote needs to reach your local office by 8th June.

Where to vote

Once you have registered to vote, your local Register Office will send you a Polling Card. This will show you the polling station that you will need to attend.

If you don’t get a card, lose it, or it gets roached, you can always call the register office and ask where you need to go. You can find the details here.

Polling stations will be open from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 23rd June.

So, even if you have a monster night the night before, a trip to the library and a full shift, there’s still plenty of time to get your voice heard.

When will we know?

Once the polling stations close, the count begins.

Every electoral area is confined to approximately 25,000 voters each. Volunteers in each district will then get down to the important job of counting ballots into piles. As counts are tallied and checked, the district will make their announcement.

The final nationwide announcement will be made in Manchester Town Hall.

Dates to remember:

Register by 7th June – if you don’t register, you don’t get a vote!
Polling day: 23rd June
Results: 24th June (or as long as it takes the votes to be counted)

Phew, that was exhaustive. So, you should be pretty well set to cast your vote. And also take this quiz!