In the 2008 general election over 600,000 eligible people didn’t vote. That made No Vote the third biggest “Party” after National and Labour. There are many different reasons for this, but overall it doesn’t reflect well on the health of our democracy.
Particularly concerning is the disproportionate number of young people who don’t vote. There is some good research on this group, so it isn’t exactly a mystery, but it’s still a huge worry that the young are disengaged from the political process. They have a the most future to protect, after all. 2011 is shaping up to be even worse:
A third of young adults yet to enroll
Green MP Gareth Hughes says he is deeply concerned that almost one third of 18 to 24-year-olds have not enrolled to vote.
He says the trend for youth enrolment is heading steadily down – one fifth of 24 to 29-year-olds have also failed to register. …
How do we reverse this trend? How do we make politics meaningful to the young?
Maybe the latter is the wrong question. Maybe “we” old fogeys can’t “make” politics meaningful to anyone. Maybe the young have to do that for themselves. So once again I want to extend a warm welcome to Generation Zero , and wish them every success in their goals. The sooner you lot boot my generation out of power the better.
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