The National Voter Registration Drive, co-ordinated by the Bite the Ballot campaign, takes place this week from Monday 1 to Sunday 7 February 2016. 

This year marks the third annual NVRD with a week of national action in which thousands of people across the UK will join BTB to dispel the myth that young people are apathetic and uninterested in participating in democracy.

In February 2015, Bite The Ballot (BTB) coordinated the UK’s second annual National Voter Registration Drive (NVRD) when  a world-record breaking 441,696 people registered to vote, making NVRD 2015 the most successful voter registration campaign, per capita, in any western democracy.

Rachel Armitage, Bite the Ballot’s Community Engagement Officer for Nottingham, a post funded by Nottingham City Council, said: “As part of the national campaign for voter registration, Bite The Ballot in Nottingham will be facilitating and supporting numerous events across the week at different venues in Nottingham city. We aim to register as many people as possible and to empower, inform, and inspire the people of Nottingham to use their voice and their vote.”

You need to be registered by 18 April to vote in the election for a Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire taking place on 5 May. You also need to be registered to vote in the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union scheduled to take place by the end of 2017.

Three main public events are taking place this week as part of NVRD 2016:

  • Youth Takeover event – Wednesday 3 February; 12.45pm – 4pm, Council House Ballroom, Old Market Square. Youth Takeover will bring together 16-21 year olds from across the city to work with Executive Councillors and the Lord Mayor on the big questions involved in governing our city. Find out more at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/youth-takeover-nottingham-registration-21054638992
  • Voter Registration Drive – Saturday 6 February; 11am – 4pm, Trinity Square with Graham Allen MP.
  • Student voter registration – Monday 1 to Friday 5 February; 10am – 2pm. Volunteers from Experian will be running stalls at both the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent Students’ Unions.

For more information about the above events and NVRD 2106, please contact Rachel Armitage at nottingham@bitetheballot.co.uk or visit the Bite the Ballot NVRD website at nvrd.co.uk

You can also follow NVRD on Twitter using #NVRD

About Bite the Ballot

  • Bite The Ballot is a party-neutral youth movement on a mission to engage, inform, and inspire young people to participate in democracy, creating a stronger democracy and a more just society.
  • Bite The Ballot registers a single person for, on average, 25 pence. It costs the Electoral Commission, on average, £25 to do the same.
  • Bite The Ballot’s NVRD saw 50,000 people registering to vote in 2014, and 441,696 people during NVRD 2015.
  • Half of 18-24 year olds claimed that they had not registered to vote by March 2015.
  • 43% of all 18-24 year olds voted in the General Election 2015; the lowest turnout of all age demographics.