OUGD505 Study Task 04 - Vote

OUGD505 Study Task 04 - Vote

Campaigning for youth engagement

1. National Union of Students (NUS)

The NUS is running a national competition involving the nation’s 600 student unions to find ideas to get their members to vote. The best will receive up to £10,000 to fund events and projects. Student volunteers will also be knocking on doors and inviting their peers to get themselves on the electoral register.

2. Rock Enrol!

A government learning resource to introduce registering and voting to school classes and youth organisations. The games and materials in the resource aim to inspire young people to discuss and debate what they care about whilst considering why they should register to vote.

3. Electoral Commission

The Commission is working in partnership with Facebook so that young users of the social networking site can now add a “Registered to Vote” life event to their timeline, which can be shared with their friends. The Commission launched a nationwide public-awareness campaign on 16 March.

“Why vote? We know it’s not going to make any difference,” ranted Russell Brand (BBC)


4. Bite the Ballot

A not-for-profit group campaigning for schools and colleges to encourage young voter registration. Their Verto smart phone app aims to rebrand politics in an interesting, engaging way and help young people decide who to vote for. Their Democracy Day on 15 April will encourage young people to organise registration rallies and voter-engagement sessions.

5. Youth Counts! Democracy Challenge

A programme for young people developed by UK Youth and members of UK Youth Voice, a national steering group of young people from all over the UK. It uses a range of imaginative activities to engage participants in discussions about democracy, registering to vote and their role as active citizens.

6. VInspired

This charity are running a #SwingtheVote campaign in which 10 YouTubers discuss 10 different issues that appeal to young voters over 10 weeks until 20 April. The videos aim to steer clear of party-political jargon and give young people straight answers to their voting queries.

7. The League of Young Voters

A UK-wide campaign to get young people voting, The League of Young Voters is helping people decide who to vote for through a “Vote Match” quiz. It is also training and supporting Young Voter Champions to campaign and mobilise people locally, as well as encouraging young people to share political messages, stories and ideas in creative ways.

The study task's primary concern was problem solving. This relates to our brief product, range and distribution as it was a good task to undertake on how to increase awareness with an output related to political issues. This will help to inform how to think outside of the box to create outcomes that will appeal to my  target audience.