A last-minute rush following a television debate on whether Britain should leave the European Union prompted the website to crash in the hours before the midnight deadline.
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Government figures showed 446,490 people aged under 35 had signed up since June 1, dwarfing the 62,627 voters over the age of 55 who registered in the same period.
“Im very clear that people should continue to register today”.
“With individual voter registration, and a big campaign to encourage young people to register, many of whom have been trying to do so last minute, this could have major consequences for the result”, Farron said.
Levels of turnout is likely to be crucial to the outcome of the referendum, with both sides trying to mobilise their supporters and to warn people of the consequences of staying at home on the big day.
Following emergency discussions with the Electoral Commission and opposition parties, the Government plans to table a statutory instrument to amend the EU Referendum Conduct Regulations, reducing from five to three the number of working days before the poll that the electoral lists must be published.
The deadline for registering to take part in the crucial vote was set at midnight last night but some users logging on from between 10.15pm and midnight found themselves unable to register because of an issue with the gov.uk website.
You have until 11:59pm tonight to do so and can register online here.
Alex Robertson, director of communications at the Electoral Commission, said: “No-one should miss out on voting in this historic referendum because of the problem with the Government’s registration website last night”.
More than a million potential voters have applied to register online over the last week, half of them on the final day, the government said, with a peak of more than 200,000 per hour ahead of the midnight deadline yesterday.
Mr Jenkin, chairman of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, said the Government and the Electoral Commission were “ill-prepared” for the surge in registrations.
How do I know if I can vote?
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The extension will not apply to Northern Ireland as non-digital registration methods were used there.
