Bloomberg News - U.K. Extends EU Referendum Voter Registration Into Thursday

The U.K. government extended by two days the registration deadline for this month’s European Union referendum after thousands of people were prevented from signing up in time.

Voters now have until midnight on Thursday to register to vote on June 23, Cabinet Office minister Matthew Hancock said Wednesday in a Twitter post. The registration website crashed at about 10:15 p.m. London time on Tuesday after suffering technical “issues,” the Electoral Commission said earlier in a statement. The failure came shortly before the original midnight deadline and just after the end of an ITV referendum special featuring Prime Minister David Cameron and U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage.

The crash sparked concerns among pro-Remain campaigners that the problem could disproportionately affect younger voters, who polls show are more likely to choose to stay in the 28-nation bloc. That’s because of a concerted campaign this week targeted at getting the young to register.

“Evidence shows younger people are overwhelmingly pro-European, and if they are disenfranchised it could cost us our place in Europe,” Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said in an e-mailed statement. “It could also turn them off democracy for life. Voters must be given an extra day while this mess is sorted out urgently.”

‘Sensible Thing’

The Liberal Democrats, as well as the Labour opposition and the Scottish National Party, had all called for an extension of the deadline. Even Farage, whose party wants Britain out of the EU, conceded the deadline should be extended. “If the website crashed last night then maybe the sensible thing is to extend it by a day but I wouldn’t go beyond that,” he said in an ITV television interview.

The Vote Leave campaign group, though, suggested the computer crash masked the real reason for the extension. “We know that the government and their allies are trying to register as many likely ‘Remain’ voters as possible,” its chief executive, Matthew Elliott, said in an e-mail to supporters.

‘One Chance’

Nevertheless, it also issued a statement welcoming the extension.

"People will only have one chance to vote on whether they share free movement of people with Turkey, so the more people who register to vote on 23 June the better and we welcome the extension of the registration deadline," said Justice Secretary Michael Gove, one of the Leave campaign’s key figures, said. "It’s particularly important given how few young people normally vote and I hope that this election will be different."

Hancock earlier told lawmakers in Parliament that a total of 525,000 people registered to vote on Tuesday. At its peak, the website was processing 214,000 registrations per hour before it crashed, eclipsing the previous record of 74,000 per hour before last year’s general election, he said.

“Following the chaos of last night, tens of thousands of people will be relieved that they will have a say in this crucial vote,” the Labour Party’s spokeswoman on voter registration, Gloria de Piero, said in a statement. “We urge everyone who thinks they are not on the register to get back on that website and have their say.”