Electoral Commission to launch cinema campaign to boost turnout

The Government is to launch an Electoral Commission cinema ad campaign on September 16. The campaign is designed to address the issue of low voter turnout among young people and ethnic minorities.

The Votes Are Power campaign, created by St Luke’s, will be the Electoral Commission’s first national cinema ad. St Luke’s was appointed by COI Communications earlier this year to draw people to the ballot box during May’s local elections. The agency pitched against Euro RSCG Wnek Gosper and Miles Calcraft Briginshaw Duffy.

According to the Electoral Commission, young people and ethnic minority communities have significantly lower-than-average rates of registration and voting.

In a recent consultation paper on the future of party political broadcasts (PPBs), the Electoral Commission recommended that PPBs also be aired on non-terrestrial channels (MW July 4). The consultation paper recommended that any channel commanding audiences over a specified number should be required to screen PPBs. According to the commission, both audience reach and audience share should be used as criteria to determine which broadcasters should carry PPBs.