Why we should register to vote, now!

Politics works best when its citizens make democratic demands that force politicians to act.

We must demand that all mainstream political parties and all their elected politicians effectively tackle race inequality. It’s beginning to work, but history has shown us we constantly have to push them.

All our efforts can deliver. We witnessed this last week when the Prime Minister David Cameron spoke out about how racism 'shames our nation'. He highlighted amongst many areas  that due to racism a young Black man is more likely to be in prison than at a top university. Last year he also stated that it is truly shameful that an African woman was forced to change her name just to get a job interview.

We can applaud and encourage all of that from our elected representatives, but equally we must be there, to scream, shout and protest, when the same politicians including the PM suggest  that Muslim women who don’t speak good English should be thrown out of the country.

You know as well as I, that if the Spanish President stated that, ‘English women must leave Spain if they don’t speak good Spanish –the vast majority of the 400k brits living there don’t- the UK would break off diplomatic ties at such an outrage.

For this and many other issues we need our political voice: In May this year we have a number of key elections including local elections and Mayoral elections in cities such as London and Bristol - and it is almost certain that we will have a referendum on whether or not we stay in the European Union. The anti-EU bigots are already salivating over their anti-immigrant rhetoric.

If we want greater social and racial justice we must raise our voice and demonstrate our political clout, through voter registration. For example, in the most diverse city in the world - London - at least one in three of citizens is from a Black and minority ethnic background (BME). We can easily decide who wins if we are registered to vote. If they know you're registered to vote, candidates are forced to listen and make plans to address our concerns. No vote, no voice. Simple.

We at OBV have tried to make the process of being registered easier - Once we're registered we have a strong voice to help change our world. OBV’s voter registration app is the nation’s first of its kind.

You can download our voter registration app at ITunes and Google Play: simply search for 'OBV' or 'Operation Black Vote' and download; or scan this QR code.

Failing that you can either register to vote online

Its takes less than two minutes to register and it's incredibly easy to use.

Sadly, racism and Islamaphobia in all its pernicious forms is on the rise. But we can, and we must defeat them. Having a political voice is not the only option, but if we use it wisely it can be very powerful - and of course it’s free.

Register today and we’ll let every party, and their politicians know, that we demand to be listened to.

Simon Woolley