A disappointingly overcast morning last Friday turned into a beautiful sunny day, perfect for the next aspect in Royal Holloway’s #votebecause campaign. Kim Deasy, the Press and Communications Officer, explained that they hope that the campaign will encourage students to register and use their right to vote in the upcoming general election. Today’s task was to spell the word vote using staff and students with an aerial photo, a creative and visually exciting way to involve lots of people in the campaign and raise awareness. I spoke to two students involved in the photo. Jing said ‘As an exchange student, to be part of it, to get involved in politics and activities, to prompt democracy, is worthwhile and brilliant’. Hannah, a first year, emphasised the importance of this campaign: ‘Young people especially don’t have as much political awareness as they should have, which should change. Previously universities have been centres for political activity but not recently. Politicians have a tendency to ignore people because they often don’t vote. It’s frustrating.
It was an interesting experience, being involved in the photo, as there were quite a lot of logistical issues that needed to be overcome – for a start, finding a point high enough to take a suitable photo. However there was fantastic communication between the photographer and those organising us on the ground, and it was nice to chat to the other participants. Some of us were there because we wanted to get involved, others were brought down by the Politics department, but we all felt that our right to vote was important. And with a general election coming up, it’s so important that we take the opportunity that we have been given to have a say in our democracy. The deadline for registering to vote is 20th April, and you can register at home as well as up here in Egham, although you can only vote in one of these places. It doesn’t take very long and it is so worthwhile to get your views taken into account at this very important election.
Visit https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote and make your voice heard on 7th May!