Introducing Young Voters: #EURef

Today, HuffPost UK Young Voices launches Young Voters: #EURef giving young people a voice ahead of the referendum on Britain's membership of the EU on 23 June. Young voters will potentially cast the deciding votes in this referendum - and they'll live with the result for decades. Yet many believe the campaign thus far has done little to speak to young peoples' interests, concerns, or experiences. Put simply, young people also don't trust the messengers of the EU campaigns.
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Today, HuffPost UK Young Voices launches Young Voters: #EURef giving young people a voice ahead of the referendum on Britain's membership of the EU on 23 June.

Young voters will potentially cast the deciding votes in this referendum - and they'll live with the result for decades.

"It is your generation that will be most affected by the decision Britain takes in three weeks' time. Young people will live with the consequences for the longest," Jeremy Corbyn blogs exclusively on The Huffington Post UK today.

Yet many believe the campaign thus far has done little to speak to young peoples' interests, concerns, or experiences.

Younger voters see both Leave and Remain camps as a turn off - or "a group of old men shouting at each other".

And one look at the BBC's youth debate panel - all white, with an average age of 59 - shows a lack of diversity continues to plague the referendum.

Put simply, young people also don't trust the messengers of the EU campaigns.

As Harriet Kingaby of campaign group We Are Europe puts it, older politicians have a tendency to treat younger people "as though they are in a petri dish".

And the result? Only half of young people aged 18-30 are absolutely certain to vote in the Referendum, according to a specially commissioned YouGov poll for Bite The Ballot and Hope Not Hate.

Yet with cringeworthy campaign tactics like these, why would they?

So it's time for young people to take control of the debate and consider the issues that matter most to them.

So HuffPost UK Young Voices is running a fortnight-long focus on the EU Referendum.

We're examining what is at stake for Britain's young people on 23 June and why it's imperative you register to vote and have your say.

And if you want to have your say and blog on our platform around this topic, email ukblogteam@huffingtonpost.com.

There are around six million people aged 18 to 24 eligible to vote, according to the ONS, but 1.5million are not registered.

For Millennials older than 24 some eight million are eligible, but two million are not registered.

Many university students, registered at their term-time addresses, are expected to return home by 23 June leaving some without the right to vote at their local polling place.

What's more, with big events like Glastonbury and the start of the Summer, many thousands won't be able to vote in person come polling day.

Campaigns therefore have needed to encourage young people both to register to vote and to remember to ask for a postal ballot.

You can do both here and find out more about voting at aboutmyvote.co.uk.

HuffPost UK Young Voices is running a fortnight-long focus on the EU Referendum, examining what is at stake for Britain's young people on 23 June and why it's imperative you register to vote and have your say. If you want to have your say and blog on our platform around this topic, email ukblogteam@huffingtonpost.com. Register to vote here.