Cameron urges Britons to register for EU vote
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Cameron tweeted the link to the government website to keep on registering to vote (Photo: Georgina Coupe/Number 10)
By Eszter Zalan
Prime Minister David Cameron is urging people to try to register to vote in the UK referendum on EU membership as the deadline for registering to vote has been extended.
Cabinet Office minister Matt Hancock said the government would legislate to extend the cut-off until midnight on Thursday, after a last-minute rush to sign up crashed the government website a few hours before the original Tuesday midnight deadline.
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Cameron told parliament on Wednesday (8 June) that the authorities are in "urgent discussions" with the Electoral Commission "to try to ensure people who register can vote."
Meanwhile, he tweeted the website's link, and urged people to sign up to vote.
"If you aren't registered & you want to vote in this EU referendum you should continue to register," he wrote on Wednesday.
The Electoral Commission urged the government to consider options for introducing legislation that would extend the deadline.
"We would support such a change," the commission said in a statement , adding: "It is vital that everyone who wants to participate in this historic referendum is able to."
The surge in registration demand came after a debate on EU membership between Cameron and UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage on Tuesday night.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said young people were particularly affected by the glitch.
As young people were overwhelmingly pro-European, he said disenfranchising them could potentially cost the UK its place in the EU.
