{"id":12168,"date":"2017-04-21T13:45:59","date_gmt":"2017-04-21T12:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=12168"},"modified":"2017-04-21T16:14:35","modified_gmt":"2017-04-21T15:14:35","slug":"hidden-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=12168","title":{"rendered":"Hidden power"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As the shock subsides, the reality sets in \u00e2\u20ac\u201c little more than two years after having had a general election, Britons brace themselves for yet another one on June 8.<\/p>\n

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Election fatigue may make many voters reluctant to return to the polls in seven weeks\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 time, but the stakes have never been higher as the country, roiled by years of austerity, finds itself on the precipice of a hard Brexit threatening to decimate jobs and living standards.<\/p>\n

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The feeling that it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter \u00e2\u20ac\u201c maybe you believe your vote doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really count anyway \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is a pervasive sentiment shared by many among a generally jaded electorate.<\/p>\n

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But if it is true that there is strength in numbers, then the strongest voice is of those who collectively did not<\/em> vote last time around.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Although both the general election in 2015 and the EU referendum last year saw record numbers of people voting compared to recent elections \u00e2\u20ac\u201c turnout was 66.1 per cent and 72.2 per cent respectively \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the sad truth is long-term trends show that the number of people turning up to the polls is in general decline<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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A 66 per cent turnout in 2015<\/a> means that 34 per cent didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t cast their ballots \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that amounts to more than 15m registered voters allowing the opportunity to have their say pass them by.<\/p>\n

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In the EU referendum<\/a>, the numbers abstaining were hardly lower \u00e2\u20ac\u201c of the more than 46m people registered to vote, nearly 13m stayed at home.<\/p>\n

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Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s put this in perspective \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the 15m who didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t vote in 2015 dwarf the 11.3m people who voted for the Tories, the majority party. Likewise, the 13m who didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t vote in the EU referendum were just a few million shy of exceeding either the Remain or Leave camps.<\/p>\n

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One thing is certain \u00e2\u20ac\u201c if those millions who didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t vote were to mobilise themselves on election day on June 8, the power is squarely in their hands to swing the election. They could change everything.<\/p>\n

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Marginalised<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Certain groups who vote at lower rates<\/a> than the national average have an even greater latent power to influence the results on June 8.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Take, for example, 18 to 24 year olds. Nearly 60 per cent \u00e2\u20ac\u201c well over half \u00e2\u20ac\u201c stayed at home at the last general election despite being registered.<\/p>\n

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And these figures weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t much better among other traditionally marginalised groups. Of those registered and classified as working class (C2DE), 41 per cent did not vote. On the other hand, of those categorised under the highest class (AB) only 25 per cent stayed at home.<\/p>\n

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Of the millions of black and Asian minority ethnic people (BAME) registered to vote, 44 per cent did not cast their ballots. And after young people, the group with the lowest turnout was those who live in private rented accommodation \u00e2\u20ac\u201c nearly half of them did not vote.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said people should look at these sobering figures and take stock \u00e2\u20ac\u201c an unstoppable political power has the potential to be unleashed in seven weeks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThis is not just another general election \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it is an historic opportunity for people who feel marginalised to finally have their voices heard,” he said.\u00c2\u00a0 “If all of those who typically don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t vote \u00e2\u20ac\u201c young people, the working class, those in rented accommodation and BAME people, among others \u00e2\u20ac\u201c were to band together in June, those in power who depend on ever-lower turnouts can no longer ignore them.<\/p>\n

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Vote and register<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bRegistering to vote is only the first step \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it takes just five minutes to sign up online. We also urge everyone who thinks they may be registered to check with their local electoral registration office and make absolutely sure.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBut the most important step is actually turning up to vote,” Turner added. “As the figures show, so many millions register but don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t for whatever reason cast a ballot.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bFor those working long hours, juggling childcare and insecure jobs; for those in college busy with exams or those facing massive rent hikes at the hands of exploitative landlords, turning up to vote on election day can become understandably the very last thing on their minds. But this time the stakes are too high \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and the power is all in their hands.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t vote in person on June 8, find out more about alternatives, include proxy and postal voting, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t registered? You can sign up here<\/a> \u00e2\u20ac\u201c you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be asked for your name, address, National Insurance number and a few other basic details. The deadline to register to vote in the upcoming election is midnight on Monday, May 22.<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the shock subsides, the reality sets in \u00e2\u20ac\u201c little more than two years after having had a general election, Britons brace themselves for yet another one on June 8.   Election fatigue may make many voters reluctant to return to the polls in seven weeks\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 time, but the stakes have never been higher as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[727,433,170],"wps_subtitle":"Non-voters: here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s your chance","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12168"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12168"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12170,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12168\/revisions\/12170"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}