Chloe Smith: Those who tried to register before the deadline must have their say on Europe

Chloe Smith, MP for Norwich North, spoke today in the House of Commons in response to the last minute rush to register to vote online in the EU referendum before the deadline last night.

 

Following a major registration drive, supported by Chloe in her role as chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Democratic Participation, over half a million people applied to register yesterday. The website was unable to cope with what’s been described as an unprecedented demand, crashing at 10.15pm when over 50,000 people were using the service simultaneously.

 

By comparison, in the final hours before the General Election registration deadline, the peak rate of applications was just a third of what was witnessed last night. In 2015, the final hours of registration saw a peak of 74,000 applications per hour. Last night, the rate was 214,000 per hour.

 

Chloe was the Minister who first introduced online registration.

 

Commenting on what is an ongoing situation, Chloe said:

 

“I am proud that people now register online but clearly something went wrong at a crucial moment last night.  As chair of the APPG on Democratic Participation, I have urged the Government and the House of Commons today to look at our recommendations going forward. It is right that the Government is looking at all the options and I’m urging anyone yet to register to do so today. I welcome the Government’s confirmation of extra resources to ensure that those who tried to register to vote are able to do so.

 

“It is hugely impressive that so many thousands of people have registered and want to register for this referendum on the European Union. Through the APPG on Democratic Participation, I’ve been part of a major drive to get people signed up to vote. As the Minister remarked today, over the past three months four and half million have applied to register, a million in this week alone.

 

“Our membership of the European Union is a fundamental question for the British people. Those who tried to register before the deadline must have their say. I am glad we are having this referendum, something which no other major party was willing to offer. Now we need to get this right for them.”

 

Extending a deadline is not as simple as it may sound. A number of important checks must be made on applications to ensure that only those with the right to vote are able to do so. Nonetheless, the Government has committed that anyone eligible to vote should be able to. Tomorrow, emergency legislation will be introduced to allow for this to happen.