Not a cent from gov to encourage youth voting

national | politics / elections | press release Wednesday March 24, 2004 13:49 by rayo - lp

Labour Party European Candidate for Dublin, Ivana Bacik, today condemned the Government for ignoring the low level of voting among young people.

Speaking to students in Alexandra College, Dublin, Ivana stated, "The Government is ploughing huge resources into a campaign to promote electronic voting. €4.5m has been allocated to fund a slick marketing campaign to promote the Government's pet project, despite the widespread and legitimate concern among voters about e-voting.

"In stark contrast, the Government isn't spending one cent to encourage young people to vote. This despite the fact that less and less young people are exercising the right to vote. CSO figures reveal that at the last general election in nearly 60% of young people aged 18-19 didn't vote. Likewise 47% of young people aged 20-24 didn't cast a ballot.

"The vast majority of young people are excluded from the electoral process because of problems with the getting their name on the electoral register. 40% of people aged 18-19 didn't vote because either they weren't registered or they weren't registered at a suitable address.

This is a basic problem that could be overcome with a concerted registration campaign specifically designed for young people. Yet the Government has failed to tackle this problem. It seems to be content that 40% of young voters are excluded from the process.

"As a lecturer I work closely with young people. I know they are interested in the future of their country and want to make their voice heard. They are being deliberately ignored by the Government. FF and the PDs are content to splurge €4.5m promoting their e-voting scheme, but won't invest one cent in encouraging young people to exercise their democratic right. It is a disgrace"

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At the Launch of the Partys' Local government policy this week the Labour Party has proposed the voting age to be droped to 16 years.