Campaign will encourage serving soldiers to vote

The government is working with the Electoral Commission in supporting members of the armed services abroad to participate in future elections. Skip related content

Liberal Democrat Lord Roberts of Llandudno called on the government to outline proposals to enable members of the armed forces abroad to vote in any elections in 2010.

Minister for international defence Baroness Taylor of Bolton said military personnel and their families who are posted or serving overseas are currently able to vote by post or by proxy.

The Electoral Comisison has launched an advertising campaign to inform service personnel on how best to register to vote, with publicity campaign posters in all units worldwide.

The watchdog is advising service personnel who want to take part in the election to act as soon as possible by choosing a trusted proxy who is eligible to vote.

However, Lord Roberts noted that a third of armed forces personnel are not registered to vote.

He suggested automatic registration for all recruits to allow them to apply for a postal or proxy vote and urged the minister to hold a meeting with all political parties to ensure election literature reaches those eligible to vote in the armed forces.

Baroness Taylor replied: "Getting party political material to any voter is the responsibility of the parties themselves, and it would be wrong for the MoD to intervene in that."

She added that the Electoral Administration Act 2006 had increased the period of registration for service voters.

But, she told peers, not as many are registered as the government would wish although the "trend is improving".

And the next survey to identify any changes in the past 12 months is currently being undertaken.