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<p> </p><p>No estimate has been made of the number of Armed Forces personnel who are
entitled to vote in the Scottish Independence Referendum.<br><br>The Ministry of Defence
has taken a number of steps to ensure those entitled to vote are able to. It has;<br><br>Issued
an internal instruction, which details the arrangements to vote in the referendum,
including the franchise, the importance of being registered and the various options
for casting a vote;<br><br>Published our annual instruction which sets out the arrangements
for electoral registration to enable Service personnel and their spouses or civil
partners to vote. This highlighted the Scottish independence referendum and included
information on legislation passed by the Scottish Government that allows the 16 and
17 year old children of Service personnel living outside Scotland to vote in the referendum
if they would, were it not for their parent's Service obligations, be eligible to
register to vote;<br><br>Launched our annual information campaign on Service voting
to encourage Service personnel and their families to register to vote; this also highlights
the forthcoming referendum in Scotland and requires all ships, units and stations
to provide assistance and information to serving personnel and their families to encourage
them to register to vote;<br><br>Engaged with the three Service Families Federations
and the HIVE network to ensure that information about how to register to vote in the
Scottish independence referendum reaches as many families as possible, and;<br><br>Published
articles on the Defence Intranet and provided links to relevant websites for further
information and to register to vote. The single Services and the Service Families
Federations have also published articles in their various magazines to reach a wide
audience.<br><br>An internal reminder about the referendum in Scotland to encourage
all eligible personnel and their families to register to vote is due to be published
shortly.</p>
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