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Wrexham & Clwyd South Liberal DemocratsCampaigning with Bill Brereton for Wrexham and Aled Roberts for North Wales |
A third of troops votes will not count
April 12, 2010 10:35 PM
Thousands of British military personnel based in Afghanistan have been disenfranchised in the general election because they have not been registered and because of logistical problems of getting their postal votes back to the UK in time to be counted.
Only 65% of the UK's 9,500 strong force in Afghanistan are registered, and many of those will have to have their postal votes brought back from front-line bases in Helmand which are under daily Taliban fire.
Because Gordon Brown delayed calling the election until the last minute, postal votes will note be issued until 11 days before the election date. This means votes will have to be sent out to the Helmand war zone, completed and returned to their home constituency in the UK in only 11 days.
Commenting Wrexham Liberal Democrat candidate said:
"This clearly shows Labour's contempt for the democratic process, with the Government once again failing Britain's armed forces."
"We have all heard what a pittance British troops get paid despite their bravery. We now hear that their votes won't count in the forthcoming General Election. This is nothing short of a disgrace."
Notes:
Other Western countries with forces in Afghanistan have taken special measures for voting when out of the country. The Canadians sent out ballot boxes with enough time gap to ensure that the votes counted. US troops will vote on the internet during the mid-term election later this year.
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