The Conservative Whip and former army officer Andrew Robathan MP had a prominent role - before and after the 2005 General Election - in drawing parliamentary attention to service voting issues. More recently, on 9 February 2010 he asked

What assessment [the Ministry of Justice] has made of the merits of ending the re-registration requirement for service voters.

The Minister replied that ending re-registration altogether would create inaccuracies in the register:

However, the Government recognise the need to respond to the special circumstances of service voters. That is why we have laid before Parliament an order that extends the declaration period for service voters from three to five years, and why we are taking forward further measures to help service voters to register to vote and, indeed, to vote.

The Service Voters' Registration Period Order 2010 duly came into force on 18 Mar 2010.