12 Apr 10

Electoral Commission uses Facebook to encourage registration to vote

The Electoral Commission is using Facebook to encourage 18-24-year-olds to register to vote in the General Election.

They have worked together to create an app that lets users download a personalised voter registration form to send to the Electoral Commission. The app will sit on Facebook’s dedicated election page, Democracy UK, which launched last month.

The Electoral Commission is hoping to encourage thousands of young people to register to vote and is promoting the page with a major campaign which on 10 April will serve every UK Facebook user an ad asking if they’re registered to vote.

Clinton Proud, head of campaigns and public information at the Electoral Commission, said, “Research using the 2001 Census estimated that about 3.5m people who were eligible to vote in England and Wales weren’t registered. And recent research suggests there may still be millions not registered to vote. By downloading and printing a form through Facebook, users can now make sure they can have their say on election day.”

Source: New Media Age