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Andrew Grice (edited
Feb 05, 2015
Ed Miliband has described fewer young people registering to vote when they turn 18 as "one of the great scandals" of this government.
Writing in the Independent today, the Labour leader draws on new figures which show less than half of young people are now likely to register when they reach the voting age.
Coinciding with National Voter Registration Day - which hopes to encourage 250,000 people to register before 20 April - Miliband writes: "This is not just a scandal, it is a disaster for our democracy."
Hundreds of thousands of people are losing the right to vote in our country because of decisions taken by ministers to rush through changes in the law.
- Ed Miliband
Labour claims one million people have disappeared from the electoral roll because the government rushed in a switch to individual voter registration.
This general election will have huge consequences for the young. The result will affect education and training at schools, colleges and universities. It will have an impact on the quantity and quality of jobs available. It will affect the rent paid for a first home and the chances of buying one.
Yet it is precisely these young voices which are being silenced. They have not stopped paying the price for this Government, but they are losing the chance to make this Government pay the price for letting down their generation.
- Ed Miliband
In an analysis of 11 local authorities, Labour predicts a huge drop in voters joining the roll this year, with startling figures in some areas:
98 per cent drop in Plymouth
95 per cent in Norwich
95 per cent in Nottingham
90 per cent in Manchester
68 per cent in Sheffield
The figures raise fears that in areas with lots of students and shared rental accommodation, people are not registering to vote under the new system.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson said: "Over one million 16- to 24-year-olds have registered since the new system was introduced, and everyone else is being contacted directly and encouraged to use the new convenient online registration system."
More: When Ed Miliband was asked about his experience outside of politics