Wiltshire charity says armed forces voting is difficult

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The Wiltshire-based charity, the Army Families Federation, has claimed it is nearly impossible to get ballot papers to service personnel in conflict zones.

It says the proxy vote scheme does not work very well with no guarantee of the vote being correctly registered.

British armed forces have recently provided security for elections in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But for personnel serving overseas voting in the coming general election might not be so easy.

Serving personnel and their families are advised by the Ministry of Defence and the Electoral Commission to vote by proxy or post.

Julie McCarthy, chief executive of the Army Families Federation, told BBC Wiltshire there have been problems with the proxy vote system in the past.

"When we were in Germany, my father was my proxy vote and if he voted the way I wanted him to I'd be very surprised.

"And I know of a few people who have that problem and not everybody has somebody that they can trust, that they want to give that proxy vote too.

"Also, postal voting really for me just doesn't work at all because of that 11 day window.

"Our Germany branch did some trials in the last couple of weeks and the time taken to get papers from here in Wiltshire over to Germany, signed as you would a ballot paper, and back, was between eight and 12 days."

Julie McCarthy of the AFF joined the debate on BBC Wiltshire

Justice minister, and Swindon North MP, Michael Wills said that changes are being made in the voting system for servicemen and women in Afghanistan.

"We're putting in place a bespoke voting system for postal ballots for troops in Afghanistan, which we hope will very significantly improve the situation in this general election."

Around the world

There are currently around 13,700 British troops deployed on operations overseas with 9,500 of those based in Afghanistan.

In its last survey, the Ministry of Defence said 65% of serving personnel were registered to vote.

The system of voting for members of the armed forces varies in different countries around the world.

In America, most states mail ballots between 30 or 45 days before an election but there are back up systems including an online form that can be printed off and posted back.

In the 2007 Australian federal elections, secure electronic voting was trialled by the Australian Defence Force and Defence civilian personnel deployed on operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Timor Leste and the Solomon Islands.

Canadian forces have a flexible voting system that enables them to vote wherever they are stationed, under the "special voting system".

Under the Canadian system, electors have a six-day window to vote, which begins two weeks before civilian election day.

During the voting period, the polls must be open on at least three days and for at least three hours each day.

In Denmark, the Armed Forces use advance voting and have a blank ballot paper.

'Right information'

Douglas Young, a former solicitor and reserve British Army officer, has looked into the problems that were encountered by British armed forces voting in 2005.

Soldier Devina Worsley wants to see a new system in place

He says that although government plans might help soldiers voting from Afghanistan it doesn't help many others.

"Well they certainly will find it easier to get the right information and to register if they're not already registered.

"And there is this special effort, we understand, being made in relation to Afghanistan, but I'd emphasise it won't improve things much for people in Germany or other locations overseas."

There are currently around 9,500 soldiers in Afghanistan. But there are still a further 35,000 troops and families stationed overseas who might want to vote by post.

Devina Worsley is normally based in Germany and is moving back to Larkhill in the summer.

Speaking to BBC Wiltshire's Breakfast programme, she said she was not concerned with how the problem was resolved.

She said: "I don't really mind what system is used I just want something whereby in the future all military personnel and their families serving overseas will be able to exercise their democratic right to vote in our elections."

Listen to all our guests and the whole Breakfast programme with Matthew Smith from Tidworth on the BBC iPlayer.