436,000 apply for EU referendum vote during extension period

The Government held emergency discussions with the Electoral Commission to extend the deadline (Getty)

More than 436,000 people applied to vote in the EU referendum during the 48-hour extended registration period after the Government-run website crashed.

Some 238,903 voters applied to register online on Wednesday, joined by 191,508 on Thursday, and another 5,936 people using paper forms, bringing the total applications over the last four days to almost 1.2 million.

The deadline to register to vote was pushed back by MPs after thousands of voters were prevented from registering by the original deadline of midnight on Tuesday when the website failed.

According to a live monitoring site there was a flurry of activity on the registration service webpage in the minutes before midnight on Thursday.

The monitor showed there were just under 5,000 people using the service at 11.55pm and more than 3,000 still on the site after the deadline had passed.

During the 24 hours leading up to the original deadline, more than half a million people applied to register, causing a system overload.

Downing Street said 214,000 people were trying to use the http://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote website between 9pm and 10pm on Tuesday, but it was not known how many were prevented by the overload from registering before the midnight deadline.

Some of those attempting to register were met with the message: "Sorry we are having technical problems. Please try again in a few moments."

The Government held emergency discussions with the Electoral Commission to extend the deadline to register to vote to the end of Thursday amid demands from senior figures including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Liberal Democrat chief Tim Farron.

Earlier this week pro-Brexit Tory Sir Gerald Howarth criticised the extension, adding that voters had only themselves to blame if they missed out after leaving registration to the last minute.

He told the Commons: "People have had months and months in which to register and ... if they left it to the last minute and all tried to register yesterday, that's their fault.

"We should not change our regulations in the middle of a very important referendum campaign simply to suit those who haven't organised their personal affairs well enough to secure their registrationin good time."

Despite the large numbers of applications, not all are fresh registrations as the figures include those who may be unaware of the fact they are already signed up to vote, as well as those who are ineligible.

This was seen during last year's general election when around five million applications to register to vote were made in England and Wales between January 1 2015 and the deadline on April 20 - but the number registered to vote increased by only 1.35 million.

PA

The EU referendum debate has so far been characterised by bias, distortion and exaggeration. So until 23 June we we’re running a series of question and answer features that explain the most important issues in a detailed, dispassionate way to help inform your decision.

What is Brexit and why are we having an EU referendum?

Will we gain or lose rights by leaving the European Union?

What will happen to immigration if there's Brexit?

Will Brexit make the UK more or less safe?

Will the UK benefit from being released from EU laws?

Will leaving the EU save taxpayers money and mean more money for the NHS?

What will Brexit do to UK trade?

How Brexit will affect British tourism

What will Brexit mean for British tourists booking holidays in the EU?

Will Brexit help or damage the environment?

Will Brexit mean that Europeans have to leave the UK?

What will Brexit mean for British expats?