General election 2015: Powerful video encourages young people 'to have a voice' and register to vote
The one video all young people need to watch before Monday's voter registration deadline
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.As many in the media gorge themselves on the aftermath of the BBC election debate and consume a smorgasbord of polls and predictions, it is worth remembering that there is still a large number of people who may not participate in the General Election.
The deadline to register to vote is at midnight on 20 April and a new video appealing to the youth vote is encouraging those between 18 and 25 to make sure they are on the electoral register.
The video shows a number of seemingly normal young people going through their everyday struggles: hard at work studying, gazing at expensive out-of-reach properties, walking past the job centre - as well as depicting a homeless youth.
Yet the camera moves closer and reveals each one of these people has their lips stitched shut, symbolising the lack of voice this demographic has had in recent times. Noticeably, the video shows Nick Clegg on a TV screen in the background, perhaps a subtle reference to the Lib Dems' u-turn over tuition fees.
"They want you to feel like they don't have a voice," one of the actors says. "You do."
The video was produced by Anastasia Marshall, a director at Rebel Muse UK, and comes after it was revealed that there has been a sharp drop in registered voters in the UK, including 11,000 vanishing from the electoral roll in marginal constituencies.
The number of registered voters in the UK fell from 46,139,940 at the end of 2013 to 45,325,078 in December, a drop of 1.8 per cent and a lost of over 800,000 people.
The new registration system, which came into force in England and Wales in July and in Scotland in October, means that voters can no longer be registered by the head of a household but can now add their names online.
The change is thought disproportionately to affect young adults living in shared accommodation or with their parents as well as students.
A sharp drop in registered voters could have a crucial impact on who forms the next government, experts warned, after as many as 11,000 vanished from the electoral roll in marginal constituencies.
The Independent has got together with May2015.com to produce a poll of polls that produces the most up-to-date data in as close to real time as is possible.
Click the buttons below to explore how the main parties' fortunes have changed:
All data, polls and graphics are courtesy of May2015.com. Click through for daily analysis, in-depth features and all the data you need. (All historical data used is provided by UK Polling Report)
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments