Time is running out for students to register to vote in the forthcoming General Election. And there are other obstacles too to their participation.

The Headlines

The key takeaway here is that the deadline to register to vote in the General Election is almost here.

The deadlines are:
– Midnight Tuesday 18 June to register to vote
– 5pm Wednesday 19 June to apply for a postal vote
– 5pm Wednesday 26 June to apply for a proxy vote
– 5pm Wednesday 26 June to apply for a Voter Authority Certificate

• Students can register to vote here. 
• They can apply for a postal vote here. 
• Information about the Voter Authority Certificate and the requirements for photo ID is here. 

Early optimism

I recently wrote here about students voting that the student vote remains something of an unknown factor in the forthcoming General Election. The timing of the election has created some real challenges for universities in supporting student voter registration but many have been working hard this year to ensure students were reminded and helped to register. Will it have made a difference though?

Just over a year ago HEPI commissioned a survey of a group of students about their voting intentions and found that there was a strong inclination to participate:

• 85% of full-time UK undergraduate students expect to vote at the next general election
• 89% of students say they are registered to vote and 64% of those students who are registered to vote say they are registered only at their home address
• 78% of students understand they will need photo ID to vote in future and 61% think this is a good idea

I found these results heartening as it is vital that students have the same opportunity as everyone else to participate in the democratic process. I was also optimistic that the figures would have improved over the past 12 months in terms of students registered at their current term time address thanks to the efforts of a good number of universities in facilitating registration for many more students at the beginning of this academic year.

Going backwards

However, the data from the 2024 HEPI Student Academic Experience Survey suggests things are going backwards:

HEPI last published polling of students in May 2023, in which students were asked identical questions on voter registration and intention to vote. Though the sample size was considerably smaller, the research is otherwise comparable: the questions are the same and the student population asked also consisted of full-time undergraduates domiciled in the UK.

In those results, 89% of students indicated they were registered to vote and 85% intended to do so. We find a striking decrease of 17 percentage points in the proportion of students planning to vote, down to 68%, or around two-thirds of students. There has also been a less substantial, but still notable, decrease of nine percentage points in the proportion of students registered to vote.

This is really disappointing to see, both in terms of student voting intentions and voter registration. Universities still have much to do therefore to address this continuing gap in student participation.

On the plus side

In more positive news, NUS has just reported a significant landmark in the number of new voter registrations from young people:

According to data from the Electoral Commission, the number of young voters joining the electoral register since May 22 has now surpassed one million (1,010,834 at time of writing), including a massive spike of 179,285 under 34s registering on June 13^th.

Analysis from NUS UK attributes this to record levels of activity from students’ unions, who we calculate to have contacted over 2 million students in the last week.

NUS UK data also shows that, far from being left outside come Polling Day, 87% of students regularly report that they intend to vote. 32% of them remain undecided as to who to vote for.

Chloe Field, NUS UK Vice President (Higher Education) said:

“When the election was called for early July, we were concerned that this would severely hamper many students’ efforts to engage in democracy. Students and young people are clearly showing that we will not be left behind in this election, and will make our voices heard, and students’ unions have been working around the clock to get people registered.

It’s up to politicians who want our votes now to commit to taking action in the first months of their new governments: bring back maintenance grants, control rents, abolish tuition fees and give young people some hope and a reason to vote enthusiastically.”

Whilst it does not seem likely that all of the NUS demands will be met by a new government it is to be hoped that the positive indication of these new voter registrations will carry forward into active voting on July 4^th.

Obstacle race

Although these numbers look a bit more encouraging in terms of likely student participation, there are still plenty of obstacles in the way of students and their votes counting in the General Election. There is still time for students who are not registered (or just not sure if they are registered), up to 18 June to apply to join the electoral register. The process is online and straightforward and can be followed here. The same would apply for students moving to a new address at the end of term.

For those on the electoral register who may be away from the address where they are registered then they can request a postal vote, again from the Gov.uk website.

Not forgetting ID

One final obstacle is the need to ensure students voting have acceptable photo identification. The government has made this pretty challenging for anyone who doesn’t have a driving licence or passport and there is a limited list of acceptable photo ID options but student cards, no matter how secure, are not acceptable.

Students who don’t have any of the items on that list will therefore need to apply for a ‘Voter Authority Certificate’ which they can do online here.

Voting for a change

There are still plenty of challenges therefore in facilitating student voter registration and then enabling them to vote. It is still unclear if we will see a change this time in the number of students participating in the democratic process. I do hope that students do get all the messages about how to register, how to make sure they vote where they are registered or seek a postal vote, and advising on voter ID requirements to make sure they are able to vote.

Students have the same rights and responsibilities as everyone else and it is essential that they are given every opportunity to participate in the General Election on 4 July. But time is running out…