Voice4Change-England has launched the second phase of its #YourVoteYourVoice Voter ID awareness campaign supported by the Greater London Authority.
The virtual launch event took place on the 24th of August 2023 after the successful Phase I campaign that ended in March 2023.
The aim of the #YourVoteYourVoice Phase II campaign is to raise awareness and provide informational activity on the voting system changes in trusted community settings at a local level and pan-London, via the provision of impartial information workshops and information stalls. It is also expected to raise awareness among Londoners from under-registered and under-represented communities who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis. The campaign ensures these groups do not lose their power and their vote by supporting/signposting them to register to vote and apply for an accepted photo Voter ID or the free Voter Authority Certificate. This will be through the provision of capacity-building workshops to front-line community workers, volunteers, and community leaders on political literacy and access to information for exercising people’s democratic rights.
The campaign according to Sharmin Shajahan, Deputy Director at Voice4change-England will target and engage with “hard-to-reach groups, who have barriers to accessing and understanding information, such as elderly migrant communities whose first language is not English, people from deaf communities, Asian communities and the Orthodox Jewish community who do not have internet and TV at home.”
This impartial awareness campaign which started in August 2023 will run till the end of February 2024 and will hold in-person and online workshops, put up information stalls across London, make language specific media appearances and carry out print and social media activities.
Expected outcomes include increased awareness and enhanced understanding about changes to the voting system and requirement to show photo identification to vote in person, while encouraging under-registered and under-represented groups from Black and Minoritised Ethnic (BME) communities in London to register to vote and fulfill their civic and democratic rights by building capacity and leaving them better informed about the importance of political literacy.
Speaking on her experience during the first phase of the programme, Lola Owolabi, Director, Proud to Be Me, who attended a workshop during Phase I said: “I think coming here today was really good, simply because I didn’t know about this new legislation about voter ID, so it’s created a lot of self-awareness. I can go back to my beneficiaries, and I can go back to my community and share what I’ve learned today so that they know what’s expected of them and they don’t lose their right to vote”.
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