PM urged to tackle lack of BME youth voter registration.

Operation Black Vote Director Simon Woolley, joined others including Michael Sani-Bite the Ballot, Nicola Dandridge-Universities UK, and Anna Smee in signing a letter from MP Gloria De Piero, the Shadow Minister for Young People and Voter Registration, sent to Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday impelling him to take action on decreasing voter registration among young people.

Since 2014 the Individual Electoral Registration (IER) has required everyone to register individually in the UK rather than one person from each household. According to the letter to the PM this has caused the number of registered attainers, “16 and 17 year olds who will soon become eligible to vote”, to fall 40%. The Electoral Commission estimated last year that 800,000 people fell off the register once the IER took over from house registration.

Electoral Commission data from 2014 shows only 14.1% of white people are not on the electoral register, yet for black people the data shows a shocking 24% are unregistered. The letter advises the PM, “We hope you will agree that we cannot allow the next generation of voters to lose their voice - especially as we know black and minority ethnic people are less likely to be registered.”

The numbers are worrying considering the major upcoming elections for this year that will greatly affect the lives of all UK citizens. For London residents the mayoral election will be held on Thursday 5 May 2016, the same day as the London Assembly election, and local elections for Police and Crime Commissioners. The time for action has never been so urgent as in order to be eligible to cast a ballot in these elections voters must be registered by 18 April 2016, barely over a month away.

PM David Cameron also announced that the historic decision on whether or not Britain should remain in the European Union will be voted on 23 June 2016. This referendum has the potential to change the framework of Europe, yet the many young people who have not registered will not have a say in their own future.

Simon Woolley said, "This is not about Party politics, this is about having a healthy inclusive democracy. Civil society and our institutions must all play a key role to get young people on the register, and show them that their views and vote counts."

Mary Schlichte