To think it's your own fault and you've had ages to sort it!

[Hurryhurryhurry]

Heard the news on the radio about up to 1 million people registering to vote yesterday... On the last day!
Then the site crashed and now many people are annoyed that they couldn't register and want the deadline to be extended.

Wtf! Aibu to think why did you leave it until yesterday?!

The Electoral Commission is arguing that the deadline should be extended.

Lurking, in what way do the I.T. specialists used by the Gov and those used by Facebook differ?

I didn't know it was the last day to register. Although we are already registered, I can say if we weren't we probably would do it closer to the deadline.
I think a lot of ppl do things like that and if a government site gives you a deadline, that deadline should be stuck to, despite it crashing so those thousands of ppl can register! It's not the fault of the voters, it's the system and the ppl behind the system who should've anticipated the influx on the last day. So many ppl do things last minute, why do you think they made a www. lastminute.com website?
Hmm reminds me of the tax return deadline, most ppl do that on the last day too, although I do agree it should be done before.

YANBU - I thought exactly the same.

They are the people who, in future will miss the self-assessment tax filing deadline and blame the HMRC's website for being 'congested' on the last day.

If I was being cynical I would be inclined to think the vast numbers trying to register at the last moment would point to some sort of scam...vote rigging...

Fascinating thatbpeople are so easily persuaded that other citizens don't deserve their vote.

Tried to register during the registration period but failed due to failure of public infrastructure?

Tough shit. It's your own fault. Your right to vote can be cast away without a second thought because yiu are "lazy" or "disorganised".

I know if I was a government with a vested interest in reducing voter registration, I'd make sure the site went down a few hours before every registration deadline.

Then as people like the OP got used to that, I'd up.it to a few days.

Voting is just like going to watch gymnastics after all - if you "miss out" then yiu have no cause for complaint.

YABU. Because they had today and planned on it. Otherwise the cut off would have been yesterday and they would be unreasonable to have tried today.

Lurking, in what way do the I.T. specialists used by the Gov and those used by Facebook differ?

Pay
Competence
Resources

To name but 3

Tried to register during the registration period but failed due to failure of public infrastructure?

Exactly. They did register in time. They should be able to vote. They have done nothing wrong.

To all those saying they are amazed that people aren't registered on the Electoral Register, many people don't register anywhere in order to avoid their debts following them. They work on cash only or use the name/account etc. of their parents or whoever they're living with instead, using the excuse of 'I'll do it later' when queried.

I know several people who've left credit card and catalogue and even student debt behind them doing this.

I agree and disagree

I agree because if you leave something to the very last minute then you run the risk that if everything doesn't go smoothly you'll miss it (eg you hit traffic, your phone battery dies, you slip and fall, you have no signal, whatever).

On the other hand, the Government were actually pushing people to get signed up right to the last minute on the debates and news etc and so they really should have made sure that their system could cope with that!

YABVVVVU

Before the Internet you would have had to sign up by post.

If the offices had received 500,000 applications on the last day of registration would they have said "you've left it too late, tough luck"

No they wouldn't, they'd have employed extra staff to sort through them.

The same should apply to Internet registration- ensure the infrastructure is there to deal with last minute registrations.

I'm staggered so many people aren't registered to vote!

There are many that will have registered but think they gave to do it again as it is being advertised everywhere.

I know of quite a few people who have done the online thing then got letters from the council to say they are already registered.

It has also been reiterated on the newsame that all those high numbers registering doesn't equal that either they are eligible to vote or that they aren't already registered.

Apparently they are saying that if it is anything like it was for the GE there will be a significantly high number that fall into the above two categories.

I registered last night for my 16 year old ds.

He won't get a vote in the EU ref though as it's 18 and over.

Yanbu
When I was at uni and had to submit my essays online it was hammered into us that if we left it until the last minute and had computer trouble then it would be our fault and we wouldn't be able to get over 40%.
People still did it and got upset.
People are stupid.

Lurking, in what way do the I.T. specialists used by the Gov and those used by Facebook differ?

Facebook pays the techies a proper wage. You need to remember that the attitude in the UK to people who do stuff is to regard them with contempt. Hence the minimum wage jobs for care assistants.

Meanwhile, the rewards for being something, are immense. CEO, Finance Director, Equalities Spokesperson.

Perhaps a skewed view. But I recall being interviewed for a civil service IT job in the 1980, where experience and ability were ignored in favour of age and college. Subsequent stories of government IT failures fail to surprise me.

Back in the 1980s there was a dire shortage of nurses (the pay was below shit). The (Tory) government spent a long time researching issue and decided the solution was ... an advertising campaign.

I blame all the 16year olds trying to register last night.

So you would have to do it yesterday if you turned 18

No, because you can register before you turn 18. You just can't actually vote until you are 18.

Isn't a DDoS attack basically the same as what has happened here?

Am I missing something. I didn't think 16 year olds had the vote.

Isn't a DDoS attack basically the same as what has happened here?

Pretty much ... which suggests the website would have been just as vulnerable to a targeted attack as simple over-subscription.

Once again, remember, this is the UK. Where any technical or practical knowledge is regarded with deep suspicion, and "geek" is an insult.

Am I missing something. I didn't think 16 year olds had the vote.

They don't

They are telling people to continue to register today.

I assume that anyone who does register today may still be allowed to vote once they have checked the rules on this with regard to disenfranchisement due to technical glitches.

The electoral commission have said in a statement

it was "vital" everyone who wants to vote on 23 June is able to do so, with a "very significant increase" in online applications on Tuesday.

It added: "There will be many people who wanted to register to vote last night and were not able to.

"The registration deadline is set out in legislation and we have said to the government this morning they should consider options for introducing legislation as soon as possible that would extend the deadline.

"We would support such a change."

In essence they have admitted responsibility and liability.

Whether you agree with people leaving it late or not, the point is, unless those people are allowed the opportunity to vote the danger is that it could undermine the result - especially if it is close which it currently looks likely to be.

Both campaigns acknowledge this (though its worth saying that Vote Leave have also said 'We want everyone to have a chance to vote in this referendum, however our main concern is that the Electoral commission seems to be doing so little stop EU nationals from registering to vote in this referendum.", so don't be surprised by the vote being called into question anyway if Remain wins).

High turnout is a good thing is a sea of campaign shit.

What we really don't want now is a really close result tbh. I think the latest polls are saying that's what we are likely to get though so there might well be even more fall out from this further down the line.

YABU, OP, and a bit harsh. Those eligible to vote but not registered will disproportionately be students living away from home and young people who have moved out of home in the last year, thanks to the changes to the registration system that others have mentioned. In response to this, there has been a mass drive on campuses this week to ensure those young people aren't accidentally disenfranchised, hence a late rush from those who had no idea until now that they wouldn't be getting a vote at their parents' address. And yes, it will probably affect the Remain vote, as the overwhelming evidence is that younger people are more pro-EU than, typically, their grandparents, who imo shouldn't be using their vote at all as the outcome won't really affect them.

What is bizarre is that the new registration process is supposedly to combat fraud, but as long as voters are allowed to rock up at their polling station with or without a polling card and no requirement to produce ID, fraud will always be an issue. Which does make you wonder if the real goal was to disenfranchise a lot of younger or more transient voters without anyone really noticing. Except because the government's grasp of technology is crap, we all did anyway.