Over 130,000 voter registration applications have been handed on the deadline for voting in the EU elections, with over half of them from young voters.
The rush was more than four times the daily average for the previous week.
More than half the applications – 57% – came from people aged 34 and under, while just 7% came from people aged 65 and over.
The elections, to take place on May 23, were only formally confirmed on the same day as the voter registration deadline.
READ: EU elections confirmed as government admits it won’t pass its Brexit deal in timeThe late notice of the elections has prompted fears for participation, particularly for non-UK EU citizens based here.
They have to fill in and return a second form which declares they have not voted in the EU elections in their own country.
READ: Less than 0.01% of EU citizens’ voter forms received due to election ‘havoc’, say MPsA total of 130,766 applications were submitted on Tuesday, while Monday saw 38,325, and Sunday had 19,535.
The rush to register has also beaten the spike that came on April 11, which was the day before the deadline for voting in last week’s local council elections.
Tuesday’s spike was also higher than the one recorded on April 11 – the day before the deadline for voting in the local elections – when 124,571 applications were submitted.
The deadline to apply for a postal vote for the EU elections is 5pm on Wednesday, May 8.
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