Salford young people urged to vote in upcoming general election

Students and young people in Salford are being urged to register to vote in the upcoming general election.

With the election set for 12th December, it is being called ‘the general election of a lifetime.’ Young people are being encouraged to make their voice heard by voting.

At the University of Salford hot chocolate is being offered to students who register to vote in order to encourage them to get involved.

Megan Hayward, Sabbatical officer for Arts and Media for University of Salford Student Union, is running the student campaign and has said: “Young people’s voice is really strong, and we make up such a large percent of the country, we deserve to have our say.

“I think it’s really important for young people to vote as a main topic of this general election is Brexit and a lot of the university students weren’t older enough to vote in the Brexit referendum.

So, I think it’s important that they didn’t get their voice heard then and they got a chance to have it now.”

We know that the voice of young people will be integral in shaping the future of this country. You have one week left to register to vote; don’t waste it.https://t.co/nFkrkJSnMZ pic.twitter.com/iDaJ92qUHZ

— Salford SU (@salfordsu) November 20, 2019

Megan Hayward, encourages young people to vote by saying: ““If you are unsure, do a bit of research and this is the future, this might decide how we leave the European Union and if we leave it. You want to be educated on your rights, people fought to get the vote lower and people fought for the vote so hard, it’s a shame not to use it.”

In the 2017 general election although the turnout of young people was larger than the previous election, the amount of young voters against the amount of 70+ voters was dramatically lower.

When asked whether the voting age should be lowered to 16 in order for young people’s voice to be heard more, Hayward said: “I don’t think it would do any harm if 16-year old’s had the vote, a lot of them probably might not use it but if you look the Scotland referendum, they had it and they used it. So, I think that 16-year old’s are more than educated enough to have their voice heard.”

A big problem for the upcoming general election for young people is that it’s being held on the 12th December a day before most universities including Salford, break up for Christmas.

However this shouldn’t discourage students as Hayward explains: “If your student you can be registered to vote in two places at once, you can postal vote and there are lots of options, there’s no excuse really not to vote.

“Figure out where you’re going to be, when you’re going and also look at where your vote has the most power.”

Make sure you register to vote.