Students rush to register for voting day

by Erika Wang

According to the Electoral Commission there was a last-minute rush of people wishing to register to vote in the coming general election.

50,000 registration forms were downloaded from its website last Tuesday April 20, ahead of the 5pm deadline, the Commission reported. 40 per cent of visitors to the website were young people aged 18 to 25, it said.

"We're especially pleased that so many of the visits were from people aged under 25, who are one of the age groups least likely to be registered to vote," said a spokeswoman for the Commission.

Susan Nash, vice president for society and citizenship of the National Union of Students (NUS), said: "Students' unions up and down the country have been working hard to register students, so come May 6, the student vote can be decisive.”

Anyone who did not register to vote with their council on April 20 will not be able to cast their ballot on Thursday May 6. Last Tuesday was also the deadline for people wishing to apply for a postal vote.

Although the general deadline for proxy vote applications was April 27, people can still apply to vote by emergency proxy for medical reasons until 5pm on polling day.