ARMED FORCES VOTING

Early day motion 862, tabled 10 February 2010 by Nick Harvey (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 70 members.

That this House expresses concern that a third of service personnel are not currently registered to vote; notes the difficulties which many servicemen and women experience in voting; further notes that the extremely tight timetable for a general election, with candidates only being nominated 11 days before polling day, does not leave enough time thereafter for postal ballot papers to be printed, distributed to service personnel deployed abroad, particularly those who are at present in Afghanistan, and returned in time to be included in constituency counts; and calls on the Government to amend the timetable for general elections to match the local election timetable, with candidates being nominated 16 days before polling day, thus easing the logistical barrier to service personnel exercising their right to vote.

Signatures by party: Liberal Democrat 40, Labour 18, Conservative 6, Independent 3, DUP 2, Scottish National Party 1.