UK: Extension to voter registration deadline may be legally challenged

Arron Banks, a funder of the Leave.EU campaign, is contemplating launching a legal challenge by way of judicial review.

Mr Banks said that the legal challenge had presented itself from the unprecedented, unconstitutional change to the law, stating that “once you have set the rules, you can’t change them halfway through”.

The government website for voters to register faced a technical glitch before the midnight deadline on Tuesday night.

It was feared that many who wished to register were unable to do so due to the website breakdown, however it is been made clear that the registration deadline will not be extended again if another technical problem occurs.

The Spectator reports that “senior figures” on the Leave side believe the registration website was “deliberately” crashed.

They believe that the spike in traffic seen at 10.15pm on Tuesday is improbable in scale.

Mr Banks, an insurance millionaire, has stated that he has lawyers looking into it at the moment.

“They have tended to say, once you’ve set the rules you can’t really change it halfway through, and Parliament really shouldn’t be doing this.”

Mr Banks added: “We believe it’s unconstitutional at best and have been advised that with legitimate cause we could challenge this extension.

“We are therefore considering all available legal options with our legal team, with a view to potentially launching a judicial review now and after the outcome of the referendum on 23 June.”

Tory Bernard Jenkin, chair of the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee, has warned that if the result of the referendum is close, the decision to extend the voting registration deadline could be rightly subject to judicial review – with many observers stating that many of those affected by the technical glitch were young voters who are more likely to support the Remain campaign.

The likelihood of any judicial review being successful cannot be determined until the legislation on which MPs will vote later today has been published and studied.