The letter to the British government was written by European Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová | John Thys/AFP via Getty Images Brussels chastises UK over barriers to EU27 citizens voting Bureaucratic hurdles prevented many from casting ballots in European parliamentary election.

EU27 citizens residing in the U.K. faced “a number of obstacles to participation” in last month's European election, wrote European Commissioner for Justice Věra Jourová in a letter to the British government.

The letter, addressed to British Parliamentary Secretary Chloe Smith and seen by POLITICO's Brussels Playbook, lists the bureaucratic hurdles that prevented many from voting.

“EU citizens were not informed of the fact that the national registration procedure comprised of [sic] two steps and required the completion and submission of a separate ‘Electoral Registration form’ in addition to the ‘EU citizens — European Parliament voter registration form,'” Jourová wrote in the letter sent on Friday.

She noted that some EU citizens had requested but did not receive the "EU citizens — European Parliament voter registration form." And some who did submit the form found it “was not processed by the authorities," so when they attempted to vote, they were not on the electoral roll.

The U.K.'s Electoral Commission blamed voting problems for EU27 citizens in the election on the "very short notice" from the government that the ballot would take place.

But Jourová pointed out in her letter that similar issues have happened before. “The same problems were encountered by Union citizens who sought to participate in the 2014 elections,” she wrote. “In January 2015, the U.K. authorities informed the Commission that they intend to remedy these issues through legislation or practice with the aim to have a solution in place before the elections to the European Parliament in 2019.”