With almost 2,413,000 young people missing from the UK’s electoral register and only 43 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds turning out to vote, younger citizens and the issues they care most about are sidelined and dismissed.
“Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those that have been tried from time to time,” Winston Churchill once quipped.
In the troubled times he was the United Kingdom‘s Prime Minister democracy fought existential threats from fascism and communism. Today democracy does not face an external threat. Instead it faces a generation without the information or empowerment to become active citizens who can continue the tradition of democracy.
One of the many unsung enablers of democracy is Bite the Ballot, an organisation that works to engage, inform, and inspire citizens aged 16 through to 25 to participate in democracy – proving that the younger generation is not an apathetic one, but an ignored one.
With almost 2,413,000 young people missing from the UK’s electoral register and only 43 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds turning out to vote, younger citizens and the issues they care most about are sidelined and dismissed.
Registering to vote gives young people power. It makes them visible to decision makers, and means they cannot be ignored.
This is why here at Bite the Ballot we run the National Voter Registration Drive (NVRD).
The first week of February 2016 marks the third annual NVRD. During a week of national action (1-7 February), thousands of people across the UK will join us to dispel the myth that people are uninterested in our democratic system.
Last year NVRD inspired a world record breaking 441,500 registrations between 2 and 8 February 2015. This was the largest, per capita, registration campaign in history – and we want to keep the momentum growing every year. This February they will be mobilising communities, taking over social media and online platforms, and holding registration drives in schools, colleges and university campuses nationwide.
Why we do what we do
Students have told us they didn’t realise they had to register in order to vote. Many also admitted they would be unsure who to vote for in an election.
At the age of 18, individuals are expected to understand and engage with politics, but they don’t receive much education on the subject. In comparison, it is universally acknowledged that all other compulsory academic subjects should be taught within schools over a number of years because, strangely, if these subjects were discarded students would be left uninformed and uneducated.
Steps need to be made to introduce democracy workshops and lessons within the curriculum in order to make the youngest generation feel comfortable and informed when they exercise their democratic rights in the years to come. The youngest generation needs motivation to get involved in fulfilling their civic duties at a time when rapid change from within and without – by immigration, terrorism, social inequality and economic disenfranchisement – is changing the way we see politics.
We cannot chastise 18 to 25-year-olds for being apathetic when they stare at a political system that seems complicated, unwelcoming, and toxic.
Those who believe that all citizens have a right to partake in their country’s democracy should support the right to an engaging education, what we call “edutainment”.
If people can’t influence decisions that affect their life chances, they will continue to believe that “change isn’t possible”, the cycle will roll on, and the detachment between young people and decision-makers will continue to widen.
NVRD is a crucial campaign which aims to empower a generation of citizens to use their voice and engage with decision making. We invite you to join Bite the Ballot in our attempts to put young people at the centre of our political system.
If you’re a UK national, you can register to vote by signing yourself up to the electoral register.
To find out more about Bite the Ballot, visit their website, like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.