David Cameron has been urged to stop EU nationals voting in the referendum in a letter from Iain Duncan Smith complaining of “deeply disturbing” reports that some have wrongly received polling cards.

The leading leave campaigner wrote to the prime minister, the Electoral Commission and the head of the civil service on Thursday to say he had “serious concerns about the conduct of the European Union referendum and its franchise”.

Writing jointly with the Tory MP Bernard Jenkin, he said the campaign to leave the EU had been contacted by a number of concerned electors saying ineligible EU citizens have been told they have a vote on 23 June.

The House of Commons ruled last year that the franchise for the referendum should be the same as for general elections, with the addition of peers of the realm and citizens of Gibraltar. This excludes EU citizens resident in the UK, who can only vote in local and European elections.

The exception to the rule are citizens of Ireland, as well as those from Malta and Cyprus, which are Commonwealth countries, who will be allowed to vote.



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Duncan Smith and Jenkin said they felt the Electoral Commission had tried to “shrug off this highly concerning development”.

“There are no checks conducted to make sure anyone applying to vote is indeed eligible,” they said.

“We have seen an email from the electoral services officer at Nottingham city council to one of our supporters, which confirms this in clear and shocking terms: ‘If an elector lies during their registration, we are not able to check to see if the nationality is correct or not. We have to assume that the elector is submitting their correct nationality.’”

They said the British public “will be as shocked as we are to discover that the integrity of the franchise for this long-awaited referendum with profound consequences for the future of our nation is being protected in such a lax manner”.

The MPs asked Cameron to correct the problems and estimate the scale of the issue. They called on him to make clear to EU nationals that they were not allowed to vote in the referendum and that doing so could be a criminal offence.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Duncan Smith says the reports are ‘highly concerning’. Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

The letter is one of a number of attempts by the leave campaign to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the referendum process. It has previously complained about millions of pounds of government money being spent on setting out the case for remain and pro-EU material being available on the government’s website during the neutral purdah period.

The Electoral Commission this week confirmed that EU nationals cannot vote and would be guilty of a criminal offence if they have provided false information on their registration form.

In a statement, the watchdog said: “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. A person who knowingly provides false information could, in England and Wales, face an unlimited fine and/or up to six months in prison. If anyone has evidence that an offence has been committed, they should contact the police.”

It also pointed out that polling cards do 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,” it added.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Vote Leave campaign, called for an urgent inquiry by the cabinet secretary to discover “who is responsible for illegally giving EU migrants the vote and undermining the foundation of our democratic process”.

“Cameron has broken all his promises to get immigration under 100,000,” he said. “He is spending our money to get Turkey, Albania, and Serbia to join the EU as soon as possible and he says he wants to ‘pave the road’ from Turkey to here. Now we find out that EU migrants who should not be allowed to vote in this referendum are actually being given a vote. This is totally illegal.”