First-time voters are a unique and important group. First-time
voting can help form consistent voting habits later. However, in many countries
first-time voters display lower levels of registration, and consequently lower
levels of voting, than other age groups.
Successful strategies to target young and first-time
voters are often youth-driven, involve contact with young people in places they
frequent, use online communication tools to inform and educate, and include
structural steps that make it easy for voters to enter the electoral cycle.
Proactive measures that EMBs can use to educate
first-time voters and drive registration include:
- Provisional registers that allow first-time voters, within a year or two of voting age, to
register. They are automatically transferred to the main voters list once
eligible. Another option exists in countries where the voter lists are drawn
from civil registries, and so additional voter registration is not required.
- Automatic voter registration or pre-registration linked to an event, such as attending a civics
class or obtaining a driver’s licence.[i] Pre-registered
voters are transferred to the main voters list once eligible.
- Birthday campaigns where
first-time voters receive a letter from an EMB (an initiative which is likely
only to be appropriate in developed countries). On their 17th birthday, when
they can register to vote, Australian citizens are sent a birthday card by the
EMB, signed by the electoral commissioner. Text messages are now more commonly
sent than cards by EMBs, wishing citizens a happy birthday and reminding them
to register. See Annex: Birthday Cards from Australia.
- National registration drives or campaigns that focus on first-time voters.
Example: In Canada, Elections Ontario established a Future
Voters Register enabling young people aged 16 and 17 years to register online
as a future voter. On turning 18 they are automatically added to the Voters
List. A dedicated hashtag, #GetONit encourages young people to tell their
friends via social media. Pre-registration is available to youth in some
jurisdictions in Canada.[ii]
Example: In Kenya, youth between the ages of 18 to 35 account
for more than 70 per cent of the population. Since 2012, close to 1 million
Kenyan young people from villages throughout the country have come together to
form youth parliaments, also called “youth bunges.” With support from the
USAID/Yes Youth Can program, 15,000 bunges have registered with the Kenyan
government and bunge members are participating in the national campaign My ID,
My Life to help 3 million youth obtain a national identity card, which is
required to register to vote.[iii]
Example: In Kenya in 2017, the Independent Electoral and
Boundaries Commission (IEBC), assisted by IFES leveraged established peer
networks to implement voter education outreach campaigns in universities across Kenya targeting first--time voters. See Annex: Voter Education Outreach in
Universities.
Example: In Nepal, Youth CSO Youth Initiative,
assisted by IFES, promoted youth voter registration in selected districts,
particularly of low caste and other marginalized youth. “Youth champions”
worked closely with local Election Commission Nepal offices on participation,
motivation, voter education workshops, and other activities – such as meeting
returning migrant youth at the Indian border with voter registration
invitations, and staffing help desks at voter registration centers. The
activities were driven by the CSO and implemented in close coordination with
the EMB, but were not part of an EMB strategy.
Example: In one clerk’s office (where
citizens register to vote) in a jurisdiction in the US, visitors are welcomed
by a 6-foot cut-out of Homer Simpson holding his Voter ID and a “Register to
Vote” sign.[iv]
[i]
https://www.brennancenter.org/analysis/voter-registration-modernization-states
