On the day the Prime Minister called a general election, 350,000 people registered to vote online. Yet it’s estimated that up to eight million people across the UK are still ‘missing’ from the official electoral register.
In the North East a staggering 239,000 aren’t registered to vote including young people, university students, minorities, the homeless, adults with learning, mental or physical disabilities, private renters and low income households.
Thousands are disenfranchised
Unless radical action is taken the figure could be much higher, which would be damaging to the fabric of our representative democracy. It’s argued by the independent Electoral Commission that thousands have simply vanished from the electoral roll, partly due to ill-thought out and rushed government rules making it mandatory for individuals to register. The present system has helped to disenfranchise thousands of young adults.
For some experts, the most troubling trend is the drop in by up to 40% in the number of ‘attainers’ – adolescents at college or sixth form who are meant to join the register prior to voting age. A generation is in danger of missing its first taste of democratic participation, and perhaps never acquiring the habit of voting.
This July’s general election could have a major influence on adults aged 18 to 25. The outcome could have a direct impact on job prospects, housing health and the prospect of compulsory national service at 18.
What can be done?
Council officials across the region’s town halls are doing their best to get the missing thousands to register. But more need to be done by the UK government, educational institutions and civil society organisations. The government could scrap the compulsory ID scheme or at least allow young people’s travel cards to be accepted as ID like pensioners’ freedom passes. Colleges, adult education centres and universities should be encouraged to register all learners to vote – this worked well till David Cameron banned this practice in 2015.
Parliamentary candidates from all the parties should be encouraged to woo the young in post-16 centres. Visits to schools, colleges and youth clubs would help to inform, engage and empower groups of learners about the nature, value and significance of voting in general and other public elections.
“I don’t vote”
Many young people when asked simply say “I don’t vote”.
In reality some feel the process is daunting. Here youth workers and teachers have a role to play to explain simply to young adults how voting works in the privacy of the polling booth. The author Polly Toynbee recommends getting ”teachers taking them to polling stations to show where and how it’s done: secret fears of not knowing what to do explains that defiant doorstep reply of ”I never vote”.
Any responsible government needs to revitalise citizenship classes or civics lessons both at GCSE and GCE A-level with a key focus on British values like respecting democracy, its processes, values and institutions.
Young people and other marginalised groups like NEETS, adults with learning disabilities and those with mental health issues shouldn’t be denied a say in the forthcoming general election, which will determine their futures. That’s why youth hubs, colleges, schools and youth movements like the Scouts and Girl Guides, need to work in partnership with local authorities and central government to register the ”missing millions”. Above all, national governments need to lead bold and innovative recruitment drives to fill the electoral register.
Democratic deficit
A growing number of people in Britain, the USA and elsewhere across mainland Europe are losing faith and trust in liberal democracy according to survey evidence and academic reports. Turnout in last May’s council and mayoral elections barely exceeded 33% across the North of England. We need to address this democratic deficit crisis and restore hope and confidence in the role of MPs, councillors, elected regional mayors and core democratic institutions. To do otherwise opens up a dangerous vacuum for totalitarian groups of the far-right and hard-left to fill.
The registration to vote process ends on 11,59pm 18 June 2024.
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