Greens secure voter registration project for schools, universities and colleges
Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer has welcomed the Scottish Government’s announcement that it will take forward his proposal to trial automatic voter registration in high schools, colleges and universities.
This follows MSPs unanimously agreeing an amendment to the Elections Bill from Mr Greer on this issue.
Announcing his support for the proposals, the Minister for Parliamentary Business, Jamie Hepburn, said:
“I am happy to commit to the Scottish Government leading work to run a specific trial on more automated forms of registration, with a particular focus on improving registration levels amongst young people.
“At Stage 2, Ross Greer brought forward helpful amendments to make clear that our Democratic Engagement Grant could be used for the purposes of automatic registration at education institutions. I can set out that we will seek to take forward a pilot of that nature. I envisage the Scottish Government and Electoral Registration Officers working directly with interested schools, further and higher education institutions and local authorities."
Following the success of lowering the voting age to 16 for Scottish Parliament and local elections, a change that the Scottish Greens long supported and campaigned for, Mr Greer believes that automatic registration of students would boost engagement with the democratic process and empower young people to help shape Scotland’s future.
Mr Greer said:
“I am delighted that the Government has agreed to my amendment and will take forward my proposal to trial automatic voter registration in schools, colleges and universities.
“Our democracy is far stronger when more people get involved. But a key part of getting people to vote is ensuring that it is easy to register in the first place, which is why I introduced this proposal.
“Some schools trialled these sorts of initiatives ahead of the 2014 independence referendum, with huge success and incredibly high turnout amongst young people. There is also plenty of international evidence that automatic registration boosts participation in elections and should be supported by every democrat.
“I hope that this pilot is a success and that it leads to a stronger and more representative democracy.”