Servicemen used not to be allowed to register at their home address but had to have a postal vote, the registration form that arrived in the mail used to say ‘do not sign if you are a member of the armed forces’ so perhaps this is the root of our friend’s misunderstanding?
When I was spending a considerable amount of my time in the Middle East I missed a couple of elections and my postal vote would only find its way to my tent after voting had closed back in the UK. I was somewhat miffed that, as a supposed defender of democracy I was seemingly denied my right to partake in it, so the next time the form arrived at home I signed the electoral register like any other citizen of the UK. I figured that if I was away and unable to present myself at the polling station to exercise my democratic right to vote I’d be no worse off than before. As it happened I never missed another election and I was prepared to argue my case if I was ever ‘found out’.