Register to Vote

Wednesday 5 February 2014 marks Britain’s first Voter Registration Day designed to ensure that young people of 16 and over are registered to vote when they become eligible (currently 18) to do so.

It is to be an annual event. (5 February in 1833 marked the first sitting of the reformed House of Commons produced by the changes made to voting laws by 1832 Reform Act, which was the first in a series of extensions of the voting rights culminating in 1918 and 1928 with the granting of the vote to all men and all women over 21; the age was lowered to 18 in 1969.)  Like the later changes, the 1832 Reform Act was partly the result of people protesting for the right to vote – something that we should never forget; the democratic system we’ve lived in throughout our lives was a distant and cherished goal of men and women without political rights in Britain even in the comparatively recent past. Not to ensure you’re registered or not to vote is to undervalue democracy- just think of the alternatives.

Anyone aged 16 and over can fill in the registration forms which will be available in the LRC and on the Bite the Ballot website and we encourage you all to do so.

If you want more information about this new initiative, please check out the official Bite the Ballot website.