Leeds University Union is working towards introducing automatic voter registration for students.

Leeds University Union is working in partnership with Leeds City Council to try and implement automatic voter registration for all new students by September.

The NUS Society & Citizenship team has made automatic voter registration a priority, and are hoping to take it to many universities across the UK. It aims to address the poor voter turnout amongst students and enable students to vote in both national and local elections.

Sheffield University was the first union to do this and offered students the opportunity to indicate whether they would like to be included on the Sheffield electoral register as part of the registration process to the university. Following its implementation, the number of registered students in Sheffield rose dramatically to 75%.

Students are entitled to be registered at both their home and university addresses. In local council elections it is possible to vote in both seats by registering for a postal vote.

Jamie Ali, the Community Officer at LUU, said: “Sometimes politics can seem really small, but the choice we’ll be facing on June 8th couldn’t be bigger.

“This General Election is a chance to choose the direction the country will take over the next 5 years. The Union are encouraging all students to vote, whether you are a first time voter or you had the opportunity to vote before, it’s always important to have a voice.”

Polly Hatcher

(Image: BBC)