#Votingmatters

 D O   Y O U   T H I N K   # V O T I N G M A T T E R S ?

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#votingmatters is a new campaign from #Emilymatters. which champions gender equality and encourages young women to vote, ensuring that legacies of women, such as suffragette Emily Davison, are not forgotten.

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At the last general election only 39% of young women aged 18-24 voted, whilst just 20% of BME young women used their right to vote.

This has to change and will require genuine grass roots engagement, better representation of women and minorities as well as more devolved powers from Westminster.

 

I don’t really care … I’m not really interested in it. I think it’s very boring.
– Lauren, Glasgow

 

We ran 2 #DearLauren campaigns in response to Lauren’s comments about voting. Find out more about Lauren’s story in her own words.

Aged 18-21? Here is just one example of some proposed policies that could directly affect you. #votingmatters.

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Since 2014, we have been collecting vox pops, photos and clips about #votingmatters and what matters to you at the general election.

 

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The Scottish Independence Referendum demonstrated the power of grassroots political engagement. Just about everyone in Scotland was talking about it – on the street, in pubs, schools and in the media, which is why #Votingmatters was there.

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However, this year’s general election is likely to be business as usual when it comes to voting, with many more young women like Lauren choosing not to vote.

So it’s definitely time for action: Deeds AND Words, which is an adaptation of one of the suffragettes’ most popular slogans – Deeds Not Words – that was coined in response to the government of the day’s repeated backtracking on their promises for meaningful voting reform.

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Too many people say they don’t know enough about politics, or that politicians are all the same. But in the age of Google, there’s no excuse for not getting informed.

 

Don’t let anyone silence you, or make you feel your vote won’t make a difference.

 

Don’t let anyone silence you, make you feel your vote won’t make a difference.

The more young people and women who vote, the more whoever forms the next government will have to listen to you.

It’s about fairness. The bulk of financial cuts over the last 5 years have fallen on the shoulders of young people and women, we want to ensure that doesn’t happen again.

The good news is that according to the BBC’s David Cowling, 60% of voter registrations on the deadline date of 20 April 2015 were made by young people.

So get out there and start talking about the election – the fact that you have this precious hard won right that so many around the world today are denied.

Our democracy is far from perfect, but if you don’t vote, it’s not going to get any better. In fact it’s likely to get a whole lot worse.

And voting’s just the start!

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Suffragette Emily Davison trusted us, future generations to have the right to vote, to be heard, to step up and be the decision makers.

 

It’s our right. Our birthright.
Don’t let anyone silence you.
But most of all, please don’t silence yourself.
Because Emily matters.
Because you matter.

 

 

See our general election toolkit for information on how to check if you are already registered as well as access to local information to help you with any registration questions you may have.

There are a myriad of apps, clips and websites out there to help you find out more. We’ve included a number of these in our general election toolkit.

You’ll find information on:

 

Vital legacy: Both my Emily Davison play, To Freedom’s Cause & the forthcoming feature film SUFFRAGETTE highlight the bravery of those who fought for future generations of women to have the right to vote.

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I believe a rising tide carries all boats, or in this case votes. The Emilymatters team includes young political activists and we continue to build partnerships with other campaigns and organisations, including the WEA, The Peoples’ Politics, Fawcett BSE and @RegistHERtoVote.

In the final weeks before the general election we will be running a Twitter chat in response to the Youth Leaders’ Debate as well as a special social media campaign during election week, in order to encourage more young people and women to vote.

And we’d love you to join us!

Get in touch. We’re on:

• Twitter
• Instagram
• Facebook 
• Vine

 

No vote = no voice.

 

Listening and valuing what others have to say is very much a a part of what we do. It matters to me that you are heard and not just at election time.
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Kate Willoughby
Actor & Writer of Emily Wilding Davison play To Freedom’s Cause

 

 

A rising tide carries all VOTES!