Extension to voter registration deadline may be legally challenged

Arron Banks, a funder of the Leave.EU campaign, may apply for the decision to be judicially reviewed.

The Spectator reports that “senior figures” on the Leave side believe the registration website was “deliberately” crashed.

They believe that the spike in traffic seen at 10.15pm on Tuesday is improbable in scale.

Mr Banks, an insurance millionaire, said he has lawyers looking into it at the moment.

“They have tended to say, once you’ve set the rules you can’t really change it halfway through, and Parliament really shouldn’t be doing this.”

Mr Banks added: “We believe it’s unconstitutional at best and have been advised that with legitimate cause we could challenge this extension.

“We are therefore considering all available legal options with our legal team, with a view to potentially launching a judicial review now and after the outcome of the referendum on 23 June.”

Tory Bernard Jenkin, chair of the Commons Public Administration And Constitutional Affairs Committee, has warned that if the result of the referendum is close, the decision to extend the voting registration deadline could be rightly subject to judicial review – with many observers stating that many of those affected by the technical glitch were young voters who are more likely to support the Remain campaign.

The likelihood of any judicial review being successful cannot be determined until the legislation on which MPs will vote later today has been published and studied.