And there’s another digital divide. After last night’s big TV event with Nigel Farage and David Cameron there’s been such a rush to get registered to vote in the 23rd June Referendum that the deadline has been extended until tomorrow night.
According to the Telegraph…
Of the total 525,000 who registered on Tuesday, 132,000 were aged under 25 and a further 170,000 were aged 25 to 34. There were 51,600 applications made by those aged over 55.
How did they get that information? It’s online and available to anyone at gov.uk. The speed at which people can register (provided they have their National Insurance number handy) is impressive. It’s testimony to the Cabinet Office’s commitment to open government standards.
The trouble is that in Northern Ireland the Electoral Office comes under the aegis of the NIO, where open standards are still foreign money.
Update: The EONI have now said the extension doesnt apply to Northern Ireland…
You can download the form, fill it out and (given the deadline is closing in just over 24 hours) physically take it to your nearest Electoral Office.
But in Northern Ireland alone in the UK you cannot register online for a vote, a proxy vote or a postal vote. Everything must be done by hand!!
Thankfully, for now, there are seven electoral offices throughout Northern Ireland so you don’t have to come to Belfast:
| Area Electoral Office | Constituencies |
| Ballymena Area Office 122 Broughshane Street Ballymena BT43 6EE Link to Google Map |
North Antrim Mid Ulster |
| Banbridge Area Office 52 Bridge Street Banbridge BT32 3JU Link to Google Map |
Upper Bann Newry and Armagh South Down Lagan Valley |
| Belfast Area Office 1st Floor St Anne’s House 15 Church Street Belfast BT1 1ER Link to Google Map |
Belfast South Belfast West |
| Derry/Londonderry Area Office 20(A) Queen Street Derry/Londonderry BT48 7EQ Link to Google Map |
Foyle East Londonderry |
| Newtownabbey Area Office 1-3 Portland Avenue Glengormley Newtownabbey BT36 5EY Link to Google Map |
Belfast North East Antrim South Antrim |
| Newtownards Area Office 2(B) Regent Street Newtownards BT23 4LH Link to Google Map |
Belfast East Strangford North Down |
| Omagh Area Office 21 Kevlin Avenue Omagh BT78 1ER Link to Google Map |
West Tyrone Fermanagh and South Tyrone |
On a footnote, the NIO currently has plans in the near future to close all but the Derry and Belfast Offices. The Gov.uk data indicates that online registration is hugely popular and often incredibly last minute everything that can be done should be done to move to digital standard soonest.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty
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