Local Assembly Member Lesley Griffiths is backing a national campaign aimed at encouraging young people to vote.
National Voter Registration Day takes place on February 5 and hopes to register 250,000 new voters in a single day.
In order to celebrate the campaign, throughout the week Coleg Cambria is organising promotional events named ‘Registration Rallies’ across their Deeside and Wrexham sites.
The events are designed to encourage and enable students of the college to vote in elections, empowering young people to realise they have a say and a stake in decisions affecting their future.
Across the week, various representatives will be supporting and talking to students, encouraging them to complete a registration form which the College will then post to the relevant Local Authority.
Low voter registration and turnout amongst the younger generation is becoming more of an issue. In the 2010 General Election, only 44% of 18-24 year olds voted, the lowest turnout of all age demographics. More than half of 18-24 year olds in the UK hadn’t registered to vote and were therefore not on the electoral register.
Lesley Griffiths, Assembly Member for Wrexham commented:
“These events at Coleg Cambria are all about raising awareness and inspiring the younger generation to participate in the democratic process.”
“Younger people can often think politics doesn’t concern them so it is essential to try and highlight relevant issues and relate to the important matters in their lives.”
“Politics and political decisions affect almost every aspect of life. Hopefully these registration rallies will help advise and inform Coleg Cambria students of the importance of the electoral register and voting in upcoming elections.”
