Richard Benyon is MP for Newbury.
At last week’s PMQs I asked the Prime Minister if he would give his assurance that our servicemen and women serving abroad would be able to vote in the coming election. Some people may say that this is a trivial point and that there were many more important matters I should have quizzed him about. The more I think about it the more I am convinced that this is a really important issue because it says so much about how we value our Armed Forces. It would be totally perverse if those fighting abroad for others to be able to vote were themselves denied that same right.
The problem arises out of a simple matter of procedure. Postal ballots sent overseas are unlikely to be returned to UK electoral officials in time to be counted. The printing of postal ballot papers for a General Election can only begin after final publication of those nominated on the 11th day before polling day.
In a recent postal trial by the Army Families Federation, the average time for postal ballots to and from various British Forces Postal Office (BFPO) addresses just across the water in Germany, took between eight to twelve working days for the same day return. Mail sent to BFPO addresses in Afghanistan took between twelve to fifteen working days. Printing of ballot papers takes about a couple of days which leaves just nine working days for postal ballots to be mailed, received and returned.
Other countries make proper provision for voting in-theatre, with ballot boxes being treated as priority mail. Something like that happened for British Forces abroad in the 1945 General Election and for the 1975 Referendum on the European Economic Community. Other countries manage to provide secure means for their Armed Forces serving abroad to vote, so why can’t we?
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