Who wants my vote?

For the last weeks, our mailboxes have been bombarded with loads of leaflets like these. Tomorrow, 2nd May 2013, we have local elections in Bristol.

It is said that voting is habit-forming: once young people learn how the voting process works, they are more likely to do so when they are older. However, do young people believe their voices matter and therefore, vote in local elections?

According to a research, although there is no data from 2010 local elections broken down in age groups in England, the turnout of young people voting in general is lower than the average population. For national elections, based on the 2010 election results, show that even though there was a seven per cent increase in 18-24 year-old voters, it is still less than half of all eligible young people compared with the overall turnout of 65%.

There are hundreds of local issues that affect young people, like bus services, more affordable homes, education, training, sport facilities, pollution, safety in streets, night buses, jobs... and many more.

Actually, young people do have an opinion about these issues and yes, we do care about them. Many people don't vote because in their opinion, voting will not make any difference. I disagree. What's more, I believe that voting is the act to try to make the world (at least, Bristol) a better place. It is our chance to shout how we want things to be done.

Who can vote? Anybody 16 years old or over, and a British/Irish citizen, qualifying Commonwealth or EU citizen resident in the UK. If you're a student living away from home, you can register and take part in some local elections from both your home and your university (term time) addresses.

How to vote? Now it is too late to be registered in time to vote for the Local Elections. For next time, you first must be on the electoral register. Bristol City Council sends an annual voter registration form to every household in Bristol in September. However, you can still join the register by completing rolling registration forms.

Interesting Links

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http://www.local.gov.uk/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=c85f23f6-7824-4eb7-b5f3-c6cbc74f7a48&groupId=10171

http://www.bristol.gov.uk/page/council-and-democracy/young-voters-guide