Coventry Council and OBV: Reclaim democracy - register to vote

Coventry today hosted the Operation Black Vote eXpress voter registration bus. OBV research has shown that BME communities could decide who wins in over 168 marginal seats.

The striking orange vehicle aimed to encourage and inspire communities to play a full and positive role for greater social and racial equality, and to get people on board to register to vote online.

The state of the art equipment on board can register people to vote 20 people at a time.

The OBV eXpress bus was in Coventry town centre from 10.00-5.00PM. The bus was visited by all the political groups in the Council, as well as the Chief Executive. Also present were the Youth Council and Bite the Ballot.

The visit of the bus is a joint initiative between Coventry Council and Operation Black Vote, and is being supported by a number of organisations ranging from the Electoral Commission and the Voice newspaper to the British Chinese Project.

Simon Woolley, Director of Operation Black Vote said:

Coventry is one of the most diverse communities with over 120 languages spoken, and 35,000 student- many of whom will be first time voters. With so many individuals alienated from the democratic this is a great opportunity to be empowered and registered to vote."

OBV Staff Reporter