Electoral Fraud Review and service voters

Recommendation 22 is  that "The option to permanently request a postal vote should be removed, and the option to apply for a postal vote for a specified period should be subject to a 3 year limit..."

This recommendation ("R22") would logically apply to the majority of voters, who are registered for one year at a time, but not to service voters, whose registration now lasts for five years.

If implemented, R22 would affect the increasing proportion of service personnel and husbands, wives or civil partners who are entitled to register as service voters, but choose to register as ordinary voters. But it would be a nonsense for service voters to be registered for five years but be expected to re-apply after three years if, like most service voters, they require a postal vote.

There is no surprise that service personnel did not figure prominently in a review concerned with electoral fraud. The review appears to have been very thorough otherwise, and is to be welcomed.