Just Vote recently launched their Crash The Party campaign, encouraging people aged 18-34 to step up and make their voices heard. They’ve also enlisted over “50 music industry” including artists, record labels and festivals to help spread the message – with the added opportunity of being able to win tickets to Glastonbury and Reading & Leeds.
Ahead of the UK’s General Election on July 4, people have until 11.59pm tonight to register to be eligible to vote. You can register to vote here.
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of @JustVote24, a campaign dedicated to empowering 1 million young people to register to vote.
4th July will be the most important general election of our lifetimes. We’re at a historic point, with the opportunity for a profound change of… pic.twitter.com/V1vWgkw7sA
— JustVote24 (@justvote24) June 3, 2024
The campaign is the brainchild of entrepreneur and environmentalist Dale Vince OBE, who told NME about how important music was to politics as it had “changed the way he saw the world” when going to gigs and festivals a teenager.
“The idea was to reach out to people through festivals, through live music events, through musicians and artists to spread the word to young people that they actually have a superpower,” said Vince. “It only comes around once every four years, and it’s going to be the hardest it’s ever been to exercise it.
“This government is trying to stop young people from voting, so just don’t let them.”
Vince also argued that through new voter ID legislation, the government was attempting to silence young people.
“The government brought in the need to have photographic ID there when you vote, and they did that off the back of six cases of voting fraud over the last five years – that’s in a country of over 60million people,” he said.
“The pre-text of it was bogus. There is no fraud worth even talking about. The first bi-election fought under this new legislation saw 3,000 people disenfranchised and turned away at the voting booth because they didn’t have the required photo ID.”
Today is the final day to register to vote in the general election on July 4.
Please visit
https://t.co/WkVoc71ewd to make sure you can vote before 11:59pm tonight, and have your say in our future. pic.twitter.com/TBLNfsSElR
— Glastonbury Festival (@glastonbury) June 18, 2024
Many believe that the legislation favours older people by allowing things like bus passes to count as ID, while student union cards won’t qualify. “It’s deliberately aimed at young people that don’t tend to vote Tory,” said Vince – who explained why this is the most high stakes election on record for the younger generations.
“This is the most important election of our lifetime,” he said. “There will be 3million first-time voters at this election aged post-18 at their first election, and they have the most skin in the game.
“The climate crisis is the big thing that we’re facing, we’re halfway through the last decade that the UN said we had in which to act, we’ve got five years left. Young people are going to live with the consequences of the climate crisis. It will define their lives more than any other generation, and they will find it the hardest to have their say in this election. There’s some kind of super-dark irony in that.”
Win x2 Glastonbury Festival 2024 Tickets
4th July is going to be the most important election of our lifetime. Voting is your superpower. Let's use it for a better future.
To enter the competition:
1⃣ Like and share this post
2⃣ Follow @JustVote24
3⃣ Sign up on our website… pic.twitter.com/zCgfdaeqUB
— JustVote24 (@justvote24) June 9, 2024
Looking to the key areas that young people fear in terms of employment, social mobility and the cost of living, Vince argued that an onus on renewable energy would open up a myriad of financial avenues in all areas of life.
“We’re always hearing, ‘We don’t have money for this’ or ‘taxes will have to go up for that’ – but the answer to all of our economic problems is in the green economy,” he suggested. “Right now, we’ll spend £100billion bringing fossil fuels here just to burn them – it’s a single-use fuel. If we spent half that sum of money just once, we could build the infrastructure to power the country forever on renewable energy.”
He went on: “Our bills would half and we could keep them low – we could nail them to the floor. We could create hundreds of thousands of well-paid jobs, and they’d be forever jobs because renewable energy is a forever-fuel. The economic boost for being energy-independent would be incredible for our economy.
“That’s how we’ll find the money for schools, hospitals, social care, the arts and young people. It’s not about the environment – this is about everything. The environment is the economic opportunity of the century.”
It’s time to crash the party.
They don’t want you to be heard.
So turn up, to turn it up…
You’ve got until Tuesday to register to vote:
https://t.co/4xK9dFAoSG #justvote24 pic.twitter.com/sKqZ8PM8bA
— Reading & Leeds Fest (@OfficialRandL) June 14, 2024
https://t.co/LY4kdOaT68 pic.twitter.com/Ps2IfHtOgz
— Damon Albarn (@Damonalbarn) June 18, 2024
NOTHING HOTTER THAN EXERCISING YOUR RIGHT TO VOTE. LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER.
https://t.co/RZxqyV5I54
— Amelia Dimoldenberg (@ameliadimz) June 18, 2024
LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER TO VOTE TODAY! THE FORM TAKES LESS THAN 5 MINS! YOU HAVE UNTIL 11:59PM SO DO IT NOW
https://t.co/5k229m3ZgK
— The Menstrual Cramps (@M_cramps) June 18, 2024
You have until 11:59PM TONIGHT to register to vote in the upcoming general election!
Register here
https://t.co/rLMkdZgv8C #NOMUSICONADEADPLANET pic.twitter.com/kRnDxp91Dr
— MUSIC DECLARES EMERGENCY (@musicdeclares) June 18, 2024
If you think mental health services aren't good enough, register to vote.
If you think politicians don't care about mental health, register to vote.
If you think all of us with mental health problems deserve better, register to vote.
— Mind (@MindCharity) June 18, 2024
Register to vote. The deadline is 23:59 TONIGHT. Get on it right now:
https://t.co/wWsUHDQGA9
— Nish Kumar (@MrNishKumar) June 18, 2024
Episode 2 of Electile Dysfunction
How to Vote pic.twitter.com/bu7u3ck7vc
— Munya Chawawa (@munyachawawa) June 13, 2024
Scores of figures from the worlds of music and the arts have taken to social media today to encourage voter registration. “True democracy is dependent on everyone having a voice,” wrote Blur‘s Damon Albarn in a hand-written note, while rising queer punks The Menstrual Cramps shared the link the register while reminding followers that it takes less than five minutes.
Vince said that this activism was symptomatic of an “an industry that seems to take its social responsibility properly” He ended by saying that Just Vote would be campaign for a digital app-based system of voting after this election to get more young people involved, but for now the message was simply to remind them that they can make an era-defining difference.
“There’s a jadedness about the process of politics, the honesty of politicians, but decisions like Brexit effect us for a very long time,” he added. “A lot of people are disenfranchised with politics and I understand that. Now, 14 years of Tory rule have just drained the hope and positivity out of everyone.
“One third of under 24-year-olds aren’t registered to vote in our country. There are millions people who are not having a say. Now is their chance.”
Visit here to register to vote and here for more on Just Vote’s Crash The Party campaign.
The post Young people urged to register to vote: “This is your super power – don’t let them take it away” appeared first on NME.
http://dlvr.it/T8S9Y9