There is now just one week to go until the Scottish Independence Referendum registration deadline (Tuesday 2 September).
Over 50,000 registration forms have already been downloaded from the Electoral Commission’s www.aboutmyvote.co.uk website in the first ten days of the campaign.
It is now important that anyone who has still not registered to vote does so by 2 September, or they will not be able to take part in this historic poll.
Over 2.5 million copies of the Commission’s impartial voting guide have been sent out during the first 10 days of the public awareness campaign.
During the same period (Monday 11 August – Wednesday 20 August):
- The voting guide was downloaded a further 33,436 times.
- The Commission’s website – www.aboutmyvote.co.uk –received 232,393 individual visits.
- The Commission’s call centre has handled 6,670 enquiries from members of the public with large numbers requesting registration and postal vote application forms.
The Electoral Commission’s TV, radio, billboard and online advertising campaign runs right up until the registration deadline.
Andy O’Neill, Head of Scotland Office at the Electoral Commission, said:“There’s a huge amount of interest in the referendum and that’s reflected in the unprecedented response to the first ten days of our campaign.
“With just a week left to register to vote we’re encouraging anyone who’s not already registered to download a form at www.aboutmyvote.co.uk or call our helpline on 0800 3 280 280 to request one as soon as possible.”
The Electoral Commission’s campaign has also included activities targeted at ensuring young people are aware of the registration deadline.
The Commission launched a joint push with Facebook so that Scottish Facebook users who visited the site saw a post in their Newsfeed about its voting guide.
The Commission has also been a part of the Scottish Youth Parliament’s ‘Ready, Steady Vote Week’.
As well as advertising directly to the public the Commission has partnered with a variety of organisations to target information at specific groups who are less likely to be registered to vote.
This includes the National Union of Students, Shelter Scotland, and Young Scot. The Commission has also produced a range of resources, including factsheets, posters and e-mail banners, which can be downloaded free of charge and used by anyone who is also working to promote awareness of how to take part in the referendum.
