EU referendum: Jeremy Corbyn leads calls for voter registration deadline to be extended after website crashes
— UPDATE 11.42AM: The Electoral Commission has now called for the voter registration deadline to be extended
Jeremy Corbyn and a host of MPs have called for the deadline to register to vote in the EU referendum to be extended after surging demand caused the government's official website to crash last night.
A total of 515,000 people logged on the voter registration service yesterday – the last day it was possible to sign up to vote – with traffic spiking at 50,711 users at 10.15pm last night.
With such unprecedented demand, however, the website buckled, with a number of users unable to load pages and receiving error messages instead.
I'm told https://t.co/qXdulxPFk2 site has crashed so people can't register to vote for #EUreferendum. If so, deadline has to be extended
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) June 7, 2016
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn immediately called for the deadline to be extended to make sure everybody who tried to register to vote was able to.
The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron, also said the deadline had to be extended, as did a number of other Labour MPs.
Should extend deadline by a day. https://t.co/jZLOuax77c
— Toby Perkins MP (@tobyperkinsmp) June 7, 2016
If this is right, deadline must be extended. People can't be denied right to vote because computer says no https://t.co/dbzR3Zj0vY
— Yvette Cooper (@YvetteCooperMP) June 7, 2016
Glad to hear voter registration website is working again but how long will govt extend deadline so anyone who missed out can vote in #EURef
— Gloria De Piero (@GloriaDePiero) June 8, 2016
As @GOVUK site crashes for people to register to vote for the #EUref, @timfarron & @LibDems call for the deadline to be extended a day
— Lib Dem Media Team (@LibDemPress) June 7, 2016
Deadline should be extended – we cannot have people being disenfranchised because of a technical failure https://t.co/XBonukomqb
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) June 7, 2016
Government website crashed denying citizens right to register to vote Deadline must be extended! https://t.co/By5IdPpqyY
— Ian Mearns MP for Gateshead (@IanMearnsMP) June 8, 2016
The government's performance monitor reported that the website crashed between 10pm and midnight last night, with an "uptime" of zero per cent at 11pm.
One of the error messages displayed to those who tried to register to vote last night
More than half of those who managed to apply yesterday – 332,000 of 525,000 – were under 35.
The Electoral Commission – the UK's elections watchdog – said it was "aware of issues" with the registration website last night.
The less glamorous page displayed to some after the original error page also crashed.
There has been no comment from either the Electoral Commission or a government spokesperson on whether the deadline will be extended.
The BBC reported that the government was looking into the legal and technical possibilities of extending the deadline.
Hague on @BBCr4today shortly, I understand govt looking at whether practical + legal to extend registration deadline after last night's mess
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) June 8, 2016