Why Don’t 18 to 25-Year-Olds Vote?

As you’re probably well aware, people who have not done so already only have until the 22nd of May to register to vote. If you haven’t registered, you can do it here. It doesn’t take long and once you’ve done it, you don’t need to do it again.

So why, given that it is so easy to register and the fact that most polling stations are very accessible, do 18 to 25-year-olds have the lowest voter turnout in the UK?

There has been a lot of research into this but nobody has reached a conclusive answer.

However, it may be more effective to ask ourselves why do so many older people vote rather than looking at the youth turnout.

For older people, voting is something that’s a habit and many people don’t even think twice about doing it. 67% of Baby Boomers and 78% of people aged 65 and over voted in the 2015 General Election compared to only 43% of 18 to 25-year-olds.

This decline in youth voter turnout happened over the 1990s and 2000s and happened alongside a decline in engagement in politics. In 1992, three quarters of people aged 21-35 said they cared who won the election compared with only 56% caring in 2015 while 81% of 66-80 year olds reported caring.

We conducted some of our own research on Twitter.

Most of the people surveyed believe that young people don’t vote because they don’t think it will make a difference. This is an understandable attitude but it doesn’t change the fact that if every 18-25 voted, the UK would be a very different place today.

Some organisations suggest that we should offer online voting services but in light of the recent NHS hacks and the rapid growth of cyber crime, this may not be a plausible solution.

There are no excuses for not voting. It’s what every good British citizen should do – regardless of age.