Electoral Commission activates bespoke Snapchat filter to boost young voter registration
The Electoral Commission has partnered with Snapchat to launch its own Geofilter as part of its campaign to get more young people voting on 8 June.
The filter goes live today
The commission hopes the filter option will remind Snapchat’s 10 million daily UK users to sign up to vote in the final week before registration closes before the upcoming general election. The social campaign also aims to encourage engagement and conversation among young people regarding the political vote.
The ‘Find you voice!’ graphic goes live today (17 May). It follows the commission’s work with Snapchat around the Scottish Council elections earlier this month.
Latest research from the independent body revealed that 30% of people under 34 have not yet registered to vote.
It will remain to be seen whether Snapchat partnership may not be enough to substantially increase voter registration among young people. When the vote was called Katy Woodrow Hill, strategy director of youth marketing agency Livity, noted that the election will take place on a day when young people will be taking exams and moving back from university, nudging voting down in their list of priorities.
She added: “We're in danger of seeing the lowest youth turnout for an election in living memory if the political parties don’t engage young people in a meaningful debate about their futures by embracing the channels and issues that are most important to them.”
Craig Westwood, director of communications at the Electoral Commission, said: “Snapchat has a huge audience amongst young adults, a group we know are less likely to be registered to vote. By working with them we can get this important message across in a new way and help ensure fewer people lose the chance to cast their vote."
In other news, Thorpe Park has today announced a discount for 'the YOLO generation who register to vote in the general election'. Those who are 18-24 and signed up to the Electoral Register before 22 May will be able to gain entry for £20.