December 28th, 2011
by the Compass Youth Committee.
Compass Youth is deeply concerned at attempts by the coalition government to reform voter registration. The biggest change to voting since the introduction of universal franchise will hit the jilted generation hard. Already under-represented by electoral politics and suffering disproportionate cuts to our services and life chances, the jilted generation will only be further removed from the institutions which govern our society, and which we will eventually inherit.
Individual voter registration rather than household registration will also mean the jilted generation will be under-represented on juries, further alienating us from a legal system which often disproportionately hands down tough sentences based on age, race, and post code.
This most recent attack on generational participation in the public sphere is deeply worrying. The cuts to our services, the highest youth unemployment since records began, and the raises in university fees were already indicative of a political regime that thinks little of our future. The proposal to change voter registration is the latest of countless attempts to deny us a stake in the direction of our society.
Those who will be disenfranchised most by this latest attack on the idea of civic responsibility and democratic participation must stand together. Shoulder to shoulder, ethnic minorities, women, the disabled, and the young must repel this latest attack.
Compass Youth will continue to campaign on democratic inclusion for all ages and continue to fight for a world where the market works for society, and where all generations have an equal opportunity to vote and be heard.
Please take the time to read the Good Society, and to follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Join us in the fight for a Good Society.
