Peter Viggers, MP for the Gosport constituency, has received
an assurance from Minister of State, Harriet Harman, that
the issue of voting for service personnel will soon be resolved.
Peter sought this assurance during a recent debate in the
House of Commons where he pointed out that, as a result of
the present arrangements, many service personnel were not
registered – meaning that although they were allowed
to fight for their country, they were not able to exercise
their right to vote during elections.
The Minister promised to write to Peter, giving details
of discussions between the Department for Constitutional
Affairs, the Ministry of Defence and the Electoral Commission.
Peter said, “The Minister has contacted me to say
that the MoD and Electoral Commission have jointly produced
a leaflet for all members of the armed forces, setting out
details of how they should register and vote. In addition,
every service unit will now be obliged to designate an officer
responsible for voting issues for service personnel and their
families.
“To evaluate the effectiveness of the campaign, the
MoD intends to carry out a survey of personnel to measure
levels of registration. The Minister has given her assurance
that this will not be a one-off campaign and has said that
plans will be constantly revised and re-run at appropriate
times.
“This matter has been of great concern to many MPs, and
in particular those who have constituencies where many people
are affected due to the presence of service establishments.
We will ensure that our armed forces are able to exercise their
rights in future.” |
