More than 200,000 people have applied to be registered as UK voters within 72 hours – as a national newspaper claimed Boris Johnson’s government had set the date of its planned election in the hope that students would not be able to vote.

The BBC is reporting that nearly 200,000 people have registered to vote in 72 hours, and more than half are aged under 35.

That’s twice as many as registered within 48 hours when this story was reported earlier this week.

The story states: “According to official government figures… more than 199,000 people have registered to vote in the last three days, with 118,000 of them between 18 and 35.”

The boost to the electoral roll came as Tory aides made this shock admission:

“Boris Johnson’s campaign team have privately admitted that one of the advantages of an October 15 election was that it could limit the number of students registering to vote.

“No 10 is said to have factored in term times in deciding to push for an early election as it would mean campaigns had less time to ensure that students registered to vote. Those on the electoral roll at their home address would be less likely to travel to vote.

“A large turnout of younger voters in the June 2017 election is thought to have contributed to the Conservatives losing their majority. Labour has also promised to scrap tuition fees.”

Here’s a link to the Times story if you want to see it for yourself – but be warned: it’s behind a paywall.

Clearly, if Boris Johnson wants to deny you your vote, it’s important that you do – and it is terrific, therefore, that so many have already signed up for it.

But the BBC report says despite the surge, there are still worries that if an election is called at short notice, people will miss out – as it is estimated that a third of 18-24 year-olds are not correctly registered, or missing entirely from the register.

If you’re still not convinced it’s important, here’s Ash:

Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/mike-sivier-libel-fight/

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