3.4 How to run a voter registration drive

A voter registration drive is a great way to support young people to take this first step and give themselves the opportunity to vote in the future.

What Makes a Voter Registration Drive Effective?
A successful drive needs to do three things:

• Why – Explain why registering to vote matters
• How – Show how the registration process works
• Opportunity – Create a clear and easy chance to register

When planning a drive, think about the needs of the students you’re working with:

• Do they have special educational needs or accessibility requirements?
• Will you or someone else lead the activity – and are they confident discussing voter registration?
• Are any participants from migrant backgrounds who may have different eligibility rules?
• If working with under-18s, do you need to inform parents or guardians?

These questions can help shape your approach and the tools you choose to use. To maxmise the number of young people registering, use a combination of tools so you meet the diverse needs of your students.

Ways to support voter registration

Most effective drives use a combination of approaches, offering young people multiple chances to register and reinforcing that it's a simple but important step.

Sharing Information Online or with Posters
You can send registration info via email or platforms like Google Classroom or use posters with a link or QR code to the voter registration site are another easy way to encourage action. Posters can be placed in classrooms, or in areas where students congregate.

These tools are:

• Quick and easy to use
• Allow you to track engagement (e.g. link clicks or people using QR codes)
• Can be translated into other languages
• Less engaging for those not already interested in politics or elections
• May not meet the needs of young people with SEND

Democracy Classroom includes template emails and a voter registration FAQ you can link to. You can find a collection of voter registration posters and flyers here.

Assembly or form time activity
A 20–30 minute presentation delivered during an assembly or form time is a quick way to make the case for registering, answer questions, and support young people to register immediately. An assembly or form time presentation:

• Reaches many young people quickly
• Are easy for one person to deliver
• Are less effective for disengaged young people compared to longer workshops or lessons – up to 45% may not register
• Provides limited capacity to support those with additional needs

**Tip: **Pre-session reminders to bring their National help make these more effective – especially encouraging participants to bring their National Insurance number.
Our Exploring Elections slide deck gives a good overview of elections and provides a link and QR code to register to vote. This can be found in the resource roundup section of this module.

A lesson or workshop
A 45 to 60 minute lesson or workshop allows for in-depth conversation, tailored support for young people with SEND or from migrant backgrounds, and places registration in the wider context of political participation. A lesson or workshop:

• Leads to higher registration rates than other methods
• Will requires more time and planning
• May need additional staff support, not all of whom may feel confident delivering political content

The Exploring Elections workshop can be delivered in 60 minutes and provides a good overview of why elections matter and how to register to vote. You can also find a collection of short workshops/activities in the resource roundup section of this module, which can be delivered separately or combined for a single, longer workshop.