Example tactics for
reaching target audiences
Local activity and partners for underregistered and less-engaged groups
Example tactics for reaching target
audiences
Targeting harder to engage groups remains a challenge for Electoral Registration
Officers. Below are a range of example tactics for reaching various audiences.
These are intended to act as a basis for generating ideas about approaches
effective for the demographics and registration challenges in your local area. As
you develop tactics, think also about potential ways to measure their value. You
should read this document with the core registration guidance available on our
website, and in particular with Part 1: Planning for the delivery of electoral
registration activity.
This is a living document so we welcome examples of
activities undertaken in your area.
Audiences:
Students
Homemovers
Young people
Attainers
Transient population and multiple occupancy homes
Black and ethnic minority groups
People with disabilities
Over-75s
Disengaged families
Rural residents
Residents living in gated communities or caravan parks
Reaching students
See also: Young people, Attainers
Key factsi
 3.7 million in the UK
 88% aged 15 to 24
 89% single
 46% renting
 128,000 are in student halls of residence
Reaching students will involve using a combination of the approaches set out in
the guidance – direct contact, working with partners, raising awareness. Students
aged 16+ may be at college, university, or in sixth forms, either living at home or
in rented accommodation. In Scotland, where 14-15 year olds are eligible to
register, some of the target students may be in school and living with parents or
guardians who may have influence on whether they register.
Characteristics that affect engagement
 Highly influenced by peers, getting respect is important
 Often out in social spaces such as bars, cinemas and shops
 Focus on key interests e.g. music, travel, technology providing
opportunities for awareness raising around these
 Move frequently and are often clustered in certain geographical areas
 Higher education students can register in more than one location
Media and communication use
 High internet use
 Regularly exposure to outdoor advertising such as bus stop posters
 Average attendance at cinemas
 Light exposure to TV, radio, newspapers and magazines
Resources to use with students
Our website contains resources that you can use in engaging students:
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Public engagement resources: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-ama/electoral-administrator/running-electoral-registration/public-engagementresources
Participation resources: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-ama/electoral-administrator/participation-resources-for-local-authorities
Resources for partners: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/findinformation-by-subject/electoral-registration/partnership-working/resourcesfor-partners?
Direct contact
Example activities
 Use available data – such as Council Tax data on the number of
properties exempt from Council Tax due to occupation by students
 Where possible, ensure that your correspondence and materials carry
messages that are most likely to be resonant with students.
 Realistically for many students, parents would previously have been the
ones to register them. Activity that targets parents could include messages
on raising voter registration with their children including emphasising that
students can register both at home and university.
Working with partners
Example activities
 Build relationships with university so they can help identify where they
may be able to help – there may be opportunities for them including
registration information in enrolment documents, or introduce the topic at
welcome briefings.
 Work with halls of residence to register students when they arrive. An
engaged halls monitor may also raise the message face-to-face with
students
 Contact the president of your local student’s union to help you identify
opportunities for spreading the message
 Engage large student landlords to include registration information with
rental contracts
Example partners
 University student support services
 Student union representative
 Individual halls of residence
 Private student landlords
Raising awareness
Students are a challenging audience and activities may be about raising
awareness increasing the chance of them understanding the process and
registering later on, if they don’t register in immediate response to the activity.
You will need to think how to time awareness raising so that activities are coordinated and advertising has the maximum impact to be seen by as many
people as many times as possible.
Example activities
 Contact the university to see what advertising opportunities they offer or
would be willing to offer to reach students, and understand the associated
costs. These may include:
o
o
o
o
o
o
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Banner advertising on the university intranet or student union site
Including information or a form in a freshers’ fair goody bag
Advertising on student paperwork
Advertising in student newspapers, magazines or enewsletters
Posting on their Twitter or Facebook account
Advertising on university plasma screens, internal TV channels and
screensavers
o Promotional stalls in main buildings outside the freshers’ period.
o Flyer-ing on campus though the university’s structures or with
permission
In large cities where students are reliant on public transport, consider
advertising on buses and at bus stops
Hold a stall at a freshers’ fair – you will need to consider carefully how you
can incentivise students to take interest and the cost effectiveness of this
activity. You will be competing with the beer society and similar
distractions. It may be that you introduce a competition, give away
freebies.
Consider outdoor advertising on the main routes to universities and in
student areas. This could be paid for billboards or sites owned by the
council.
S
Looked after children and children in secure accommodation
In Scotland, those under 16 years old who are, or have been, looked after
children, or are currently being kept in secure accommodation, are entitled
to register by making a declaration of local connection.
Local authorities in Scotland have a duty to promote awareness of how these
children (who can be up to 18 years old) can register as local government
electors and provide assistance to help such young people to register. EROs will
need to engage actively with other departments and staff in local authorities and
other bodies with responsibilities of care to promote awareness of these
arrangements. Further information on registering by making a declaration of
local connection is contained in Part 2: Registration framework, and Part 4:
Maintaining the register throughout the year.
.
What others have done to engage students
Lancaster City Council – targeting students
Lancaster has a ward (approximately 3,000 electors) which consists nearly
entirely of students. They have used a variety of methods to maximise student
registration, including:
• Getting agreement to include information regarding electoral registration, and
the www.gov.uk/register-to-vote link, on university enrolment materials.
• A university bus campaign with interior adverts on all buses. The buses have
free wifi so the online registration facility is promoted in the adverts. There is
also a captive audience since the Lancaster University Campus is roughly a 20
minute bus ride from the city centre.
• A ‘registration stall’ at both fresher’s fairs for the two universities in Lancaster
with iPads/tablets available for the students to register. The Students’ Union
supported the work and offered their staff to assist with promotions, competitions,
etc. Low-cost freebies were used to entice students to the stall; for example,
fortune cookies with wrappers featuring the City Council logo and a message slip
inside the cookie consisting of www.gov.uk/register-to-vote printed on one side,
and Electoral Commission messaging on the other side.
• Adverts displayed around the universities on digital boards and student
magazines.
• A smartphone app is used by students at Lancaster University called
iLancaster. It is developed by the University and has 9,000 active student users
(which equates to 75% of Lancaster University’s student population). Agreement
was received for a ‘registration tile’ to be added to the app with information about
electoral registration and the www.gov.uk/register-to-vote link. Agreement was
also received to advertise IER on the app via a banner at key points (such as the
beginning of term and in the run up to the 2015 UK Parliamentary election). The
university can produce statistics (counters) for how many students have used the
‘registration tile’.
• Communications with private halls of residence/private student
landlords/agents. Many have agreed to include IER student literature in their
student welcome packs and display posters. This was achieved via a simple
internet search for the contact details of student landlords/letting agents in the
area in order to create an email distribution list.
Leeds University Library – why getting the look and feel right for the
audience matters
The library wanted to do more to ensure it connecting to its 33,000 students
particularly because there was lack of awareness of facilities. The library
developed and adopted a new visual identity that was bright, clear and modern,
which appealed much more to the students. The result was that web traffic
increased by 31% and 10,000 new visitors
Discouraging illegal downloading amongst students – why it’s helpful to
focus on the factors that people are most interested in
Thinking about the benefits and personal costs of a particular action that work the
target audience are important to success, as demonstrated by the following
example. Music is a critical part of university life and social identity. Illegal
downloads are not entirely free – the impact can be legal, technological in terms
of viruses, or moral. Costs students feared the most was viruses and the
potential effect on post graduate jobs. Focuses on these risks in advertising
reduced the level of illegal downloading. Source: Journal of Ad Research
Reaching homemovers
See also: Mobile populations, private renters
and communal residencies
Key factsii
 2 million at current address for under 12 months
 1.3 million lived at current address for 1-2 years
 35% or private renters been at current address for under one year
Research has shown that those who have recently moved are among the most at
risk of being absent from the register. Opportunities to raise awareness include
direct contact, working with partners, and advertising and media.
Characteristics that affect engagement
 Unaware of need to re-register or update details
 May assume that council records are automatically updated
 Concentrating on other priorities related to moving home
 May have contact with other council services over address change
 May be setting up new services such as broadband
 May be using local businesses to set up home
 May not have redirected mail from old address
Resources to use with homemovers
Our website contains resources that you can use in engaging homemovers:
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Public engagement resources: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-ama/electoral-administrator/running-electoral-registration/public-engagementresources
Participation resources: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-ama/electoral-administrator/participation-resources-for-local-authorities
Resources for partners: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/findinformation-by-subject/electoral-registration/partnership-working/resourcesfor-partners?
Direct contact
Example activities
 Household enquiry forms will help to identify residents at properties for
which you have no details
 Frontline council staff that deal with public enquiries about address
changes could be briefed to highlight the need to register to vote at a new
address. These enquiries could be on any council service, such as:
o Council tax
o Parking permits
o Schools
o Waste and recycling collection dates
 Your website may have a ‘change of address notification, which sends
details to different departments of where someone has moved
 Other departments, service providers and frontline staff may be in contact
with new residents to the area – and may be sending communications in
which information could be provided
Working with partners
Example activities
 It may be possible to engage local estate agents and large landlords –
including social housing – to include information with rental agreements or
provide leaflets when keys are handed over
 People who have just moved are likely to make use of certain businesses
– local DIY stores and household goods shops may be able to display
posters or place flyers on noticeboards
 Local businesses who deliver may be willing to include leaflets with their
deliveries to new customers
 Local area groups, residents associations and online community forums
could be contacted about putting posts on their websites or blogs,
displaying posters on notice boards
 These partners may also be interested in raising the issue at meetings, or
even running engagement workshops, which could potentially spark
further opportunities for engaging residents
 Political party volunteers who canvass door-to-door may help with
spreading the registration message
Example partners
 Estate agents
 Private and social landlords
 DIY and home improvement stores
 Local businesses that deliver
 Community forums, resident’s associations and other local groups
 Local businesses with websites that may be visited by homemovers, such
as those that provide information on the local area
 Other departments and service providers
 Utilities companies
Raising awareness
You will need to think how to time awareness raising so that activities are coordinated and advertising has the maximum impact to be seen by as many
people as many times as possible. Think also about ways to calculate the
number of residents reached by the activity.
Example activities
 Advertisements could be located in places that are likely to be visited by
homemovers. New residents may for example join leisure centres, register
at doctors surgeries and leaflets, posters or registration packs could be
provided at these locations.
 Online advertisements could be displayed on areas of the website likely to
visited by homemovers.
 Relevant local businesses and community organisations may be willing to
post banner advertisements on their websites
Reaching young people
See also: Students, attainers, mobile
populations
Key factsiii
 16.7m 18-34-year-olds in UK
 124k 16-17-year-olds in Scotland
 2.96m live with parents
 5.6m live as a couple in their own
household
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958,000 live alone
672,000 live as lone parents
128,000 are in student halls of residence
‘Young people’ is a very diverse group – it may include students, parents of
young children, those in employment or looking for work. In Scotland, 14-15 year
olds are eligible to register so this target group could also include school pupils,
and those who are particularly reliant on parents and guardians. As a whole, the
group tend to be under-registered, particularly when they fall into other
categories of under-registration. They are also less likely to be engaged with the
party political process and traditional ‘politics’, but may be interested in single
issue politics.
Characteristics that affect engagement
 Less likely to be engaged with politics
 Potentially engaged with politics over particular issues
 Influenced by peers and/or family
 Previous reliance on being registered by family
 Unaware of need to register to vote
 Other priorities such as studying, socializing, searching for work, raising
young children
Media consumption
 Heavy exposure to internet and social media
 High smart phone and text message use
 Heavy exposure to outdoor advertising such as bus stop posters
 Medium exposure to cinema
 Light exposure to ‘traditional media’ – TV, radio, newspapers and
magazines
Resources to use with young people
Our website contains resources that you can use in engaging young people:



Public engagement resources: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-ama/electoral-administrator/running-electoral-registration/public-engagementresources
Participation resources: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-ama/electoral-administrator/participation-resources-for-local-authorities
Resources for partners: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/findinformation-by-subject/electoral-registration/partnership-working/resourcesfor-partners?
Direct contact
Example activities
 Where you can identify that young people are living at an address (such
as via education data), direct communications can be tailored to that
audience.
 Communications to parents of young people can highlight the need to
raise registration with family members
 Consider direct communication in a format that young people may find
most convenient, for example text messaging or social media.
 Look into your processes for dealing with queries that come in via social
media - it’s likely that responses will be expected quickly.
 Your local authority may employ young people, including apprentices, who
could advise on communicating with young people in your area
 Targeted postcards or leaflets could be mailed directly to young people
 Other departments, service providers and frontline staff may be in contact
with young people in the area – and may be sending communications in
which information could be provided
 Data may be available to contact and work with young people directly, for
example you could target young people in temporary housing.
Working with partners
Example activities
 Contact organisations that provide services to young people, such as
youth volunteering networks, sports groups and job and skills training
providers. They may be willing to flag registration to members.
 Local authority teams may have face-to-face contact with groups of young
people and you could talk with them to identify opportunities for flagging
registration.
 If you have a young person’s council or similar network, it may be useful to
seek their views on engaging young people in the area and encouraging
them to register. They may also help by communicating through their own
channels.
 Other teams may also have information on individuals who have contact
and influence with young people, and may be aware of existing
communication mechanisms. So for example they may be in touch with
community champions, volunteers, care services etc.
 Engage with education providers to see if they can display materials or
promote registration among their students.
 Young people will fall into many other social categories so data could be
used to identifying other opportunities for identifying appropriate partners.
For example, young people in your area may be parents – and they could
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be reached by working with young parents groups, children’s centres, the
Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages etc.
There may be large employers in your area that employ high numbers of
young people. They may be willing to flag registration through internal
communication mechanisms, particularly if they are interested in building
community relations or have a corporate social responsibility agenda
Similarly local businesses with young people as customers may be
engaged to spread the message.
You may be willing to identify organisations that are interested in
supporting you to run events for young people or who may be able to
deliver activity themselves. For example you could contact Bite the Ballot
for information.
Example partners
 Sport and young adult clubs
 Volunteering networks
 Education institutes
 Businesses and employers
 Parent support organisations
 Large local employers
 Faith groups
 Job and skills training providers
Raising awareness
You will need to think how to time awareness raising so that activities are coordinated and advertising has the maximum impact to be seen by as many
people as many times as possible. Think also about ways to calculate the
number of young people reached by the activity.
Example activities
 Review data, where available, on the habits of local young people – and
look at opportunities for advertising in these areas. For example public
transport, gyms, shopping areas, cinemas, nightclubs.
 Consider if local authority social media has a substantial audience of
young people, and the extent to which it’s helpful to help awareness
raising information.
 Consider placing advertising on any online services used by young people
 Low cost media space may be available on commercial websites with a
young audience – listings site, bar guides etc.
S
Looked after children and children in secure accommodation
In Scotland, those under 16 years old who are, or have been, looked after
children, or are currently being kept in secure accommodation, are entitled
to register by making a declaration of local connection.
Local authorities in Scotland have a duty to promote awareness of how these
children (who can be up to 18 years old) can register as local government
electors and provide assistance to help such young people to register. EROs will
need to engage actively with other departments and staff in local authorities and
other bodies with responsibilities of care to promote awareness of these
arrangements. Further information on registering by making a declaration of
local connection is contained in Part 2: Registration framework, and Part 4:
Maintaining the register throughout the year.
What others have done to engage young people
Enrolment week in Tyneside
‘I do it in secret’ was just one of the slogans on t-shirts worn by South Tyneside’s
electoral administration team at a stall held during student enrolment week at a
local college. Curious students drawn to the stall to find out what the slogans
meant were then encouraged to register to vote.
During the enrolment week, which coincided with the 2005 annual canvass, the
council also organised an event for local young people where they gave out
information on voter registration and showed a DVD on how to vote. The event
also saw the prize draw for a competition which encouraged young people to
register to vote. The winners chose from a range of prizes. This public
awareness work was complemented by a personalised letter sent to parents in all
attainer households, naming the young person and highlighting that they are now
able to register. As a result South Tyneside were able to increase the number of
17-year-olds on the register from 59% to 80%.
Reaching attainers
See also: Young people
Key factsiv

 16-18 in full time education 69%
 In part-time education 6%
 In work-based learning 6%
 NEET (not in education employment or
training) 9%
Like young people as a whole, attainers may be less likely to be engaged in party
politics in the traditional sense, and may be unaware of the need to register to
vote. In Scotland, 14-15 year olds are eligible to register, so this target group
could also include school pupils, and those who are particularly reliant on parents
and guardians.
Characteristics that affect engagement
 Disengagement with politics among some groups
 Influenced by peers and/or family
 Previous reliance on being registered by family
 Unaware of need to register a potential factor
 Some more likely to accept messages from peers than from authority
figures
 Other priorities such as studying, socializing, searching for work
Media consumption
 Heavy exposure to internet and social media
 High smart phone and text message use
 Heavy exposure to outdoor advertising such as bus stop posters
 Medium exposure to cinema
 Light exposure to ‘traditional media’ – TV, radio, newspapers and
magazines
Resources to use with attainers
Our website contains resources that you can use in engaging attainers:



Public engagement resources: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-ama/electoral-administrator/running-electoral-registration/public-engagementresources
Participation resources: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-ama/electoral-administrator/participation-resources-for-local-authorities
Resources for partners: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/findinformation-by-subject/electoral-registration/partnership-working/resourcesfor-partners?
Direct contact
Example activities
 Communications to parents of attainers can highlight the need to raise
registration with family members
 Existing communications sent directly to 16-17 year olds (14-17 in
Scotland) could include information on registration.
 Consider direct communication in a format that young people may find
most convenient, for example text messaging or social media.
 Look into your processes for dealing with queries that come in via social
media - it’s likely that responses will be expected quickly.
 Other departments, service providers and frontline staff may be in contact
with new residents to the area – and may be sending communications in
which information could be provided
Working with partners
Example activities
 Contact organisations providing services to 16-17 year olds (14-17 in
Scotland). These could include youth clubs, volunteering networks, sports
groups and training providers. They may be willing to flag registration to
members.
 Local authority teams and their contacts may have face-to-face with 16-17
year olds (14-17 in Scotland) and you could talk with them to identify
opportunities for flagging registration.
 Other teams may also have information on individuals who have contact
and influence with 16-17 year olds (14 to 17 in Scotland), and may be
aware of existing communication mechanisms. So for example they may
be in touch with community champions, volunteers, care services etc.
 It may be possible to engage schools and youth groups – potentially to run
registration focused sessions. External organisations that are interested in
supporting you to run events for young people or who may be able to
deliver activity themselves. For example you could contact Bite the Ballot
for information.
Example partners
 Schools and colleges
 Young people’s volunteering networks
 Leisure, sports and social clubs
 Children’s homes
 Employees providing training schemes
Raising awareness
You will need to think how to time awareness raising so that activities are coordinated and advertising has the maximum impact to be seen by as many
people as many times as possible. Think also about ways to calculate the
number of residents reached by the activity.
Example activities
 Review data, where available, on the habits of 16-17 year olds (14-17 in
Scotland) – and look at opportunities for advertising in these areas. For
example public transport, leisure, shopping areas, cinemas.
 Provide information on registration – and wherever possible – somebody
to explain things in person as this group may be particularly unfamiliar with
the process.
 Consider if local authority social media has a substantial audience of
young people, and the extent to which it’s helpful to help awareness
raising information.
 Consider placing advertising on any online services used by young people
 Low cost media space may be available on commercial websites with a
young audience – listings site, bar guides etc.
S
Looked after children and children in secure accommodation
In Scotland, those under 16 years old who are, or have been, looked after
children, or are currently being kept in secure accommodation, are entitled
to register by making a declaration of local connection.
Local authorities in Scotland have a duty to promote awareness of how these
children (who can be up to 18 years old) can register as local government
electors and provide assistance to help such young people to register. EROs will
need to engage actively with other departments and staff in local authorities and
other bodies with responsibilities of care to promote awareness of these
arrangements. Further information on registering by making a declaration of
local connection is contained in Part 2: Registration framework, and Part 4:
Maintaining the register throughout the year.
What others have done to engage young people
Electoral officers from Carmarthenshire County Council attended a local young
farmers convention. Council officials were out among the young people at the
Three Counties Showground in Carmarthen talking about the importance of the
upcoming elections and distributing free information and giveaways.
Reaching underregistered black and
ethnic minority groups
Key factsv
 7m (14%) UK aged 18+ non-white
This is a hugely varied group that cannot be considered as a whole, so it’s
especially important that you have access to demographical data on your area to
fully understand the breakdown of residents and their geographical location.
Some black and ethnic minority groups are more likely to be under-registered,
and this also applies to individuals who have other nationalities. For example,
research has shown that Eastern European nationals are under-registered.
Research
Our research has shown only 77% of people from BME communities were
registered (compared with 86% of white people). The Ethnic Minority British
Election Study found that 28% of Black African respondents were not registered
compared with 17% of Black Caribbean and Indian respondents. However, the
real difference in non-registration between these groups will be smaller as these
estimates do not take account of eligibility and the research found that the Black
African community included a greater proportion of ineligible people than other
communities.
The Ethnic Minority British Election Study also found that nearly three in 10 BME
respondents (28%) reported that they were not registered because they did not
believe they were entitled to vote. While it is likely to have been true that certain
respondents were not entitled to vote, others may have been unaware of
eligibility for Commonwealth nationals.
Characteristics that affect engagement
 Hugely diverse making local statistics on demographics crucial
 60% of ethnic minorities are second or third generation, and integrated
into British society
 In some groups, within the family ‘own’ culture may prevail
 Black/Caribbean trend – aging population
 Black/African trend – most youthful and fastest growing community (three
fifths came to the UK since 1990)
 Pakistani/Bangladeshi trend – youthful group, reflecting high fertility rates
 Other Asian trend – often highly economically active
Media consumption
 18% of BMEs watch only mainstream TV
 16% BMEs watch only ethnic TV
 Websites considered a useful channel by advertisers, also:
 Social media that involves discussion and participation
 Events such as those held at regional arenas
Resources to use with BME groups
Our website contains resources that you can use in engaging with BME groups:



Public engagement resources: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-ama/electoral-administrator/running-electoral-registration/public-engagementresources
Participation resources: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-ama/electoral-administrator/participation-resources-for-local-authorities
Resources for partners: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/findinformation-by-subject/electoral-registration/partnership-working/resourcesfor-partners?
Direct contact
Example activities
 Front-line staff working with BME groups may be able to raise the
registration message and be briefed to provide helpful information to
support registration.
Working with partners
Example activities
 Identify community groups and charities that work with or have members
from the target group, who could help you to develop opportunities for
spreading your message. These could include social groups, job and skills
clubs, women’s groups.
 Write to community champions and religious leaders to ask them to put
registration on the agenda with their communities. Local area
development and residents groups in target geographic areas may also be
helpful. It’s important to set out why raising the subject and encouraging
participation is so important for that group.
 Work with facilities that have a high number of visitors from your target
audience – you may have a cultural or education centre, or youth or older
persons centre.
 Involve umbrella voluntary organisations as they may be able to flag to
relevant volunteers either directly or through newsletters – for example

they could involve mentors working with recent immigrants or young
people.
Local businesses such as ethnic food stores, restaurants and venues may
be able to assist in spreading the message to customers by providing
notice board information or leaflets.
Raising awareness
You will need to think how to time awareness raising so that activities are coordinated and advertising has the maximum impact to be seen by as many
people as many times as possible. Think also about ways to calculate the
number of residents reached by the activity.
 Community events and festivals held in areas with clusters of target BME
groups – or aimed at groups specifically – could provide an opportunity to
reach certain communities. For example you may be able to set up a
stand, provide information on a stand for another service, or you may be
able to display posters.
 Identify local authority channels that reach a large number of the target
group and can be used to provide information. These may be contact
centres, libraries, leisure facilities, and community centres.
 Local community environments or media channels that encourage
discussion may be useful spaces for raising awareness among BME
groups – for example local residents forums and community centres.
 Paid-for advertising could be located in geographical locations with high
concentrations of the target group. Alternatively, you could arrange to
have a stall or undertake street marketing in a shopping area.
What others have done to engage BME audiences
Haircut and sign-up
Hair-salons in London became important poster sites in a GLA campaign to
recruit black male adults to become mentors to at-risk boys. Advertisements
were also carried by local community newspapers and on public transport, but it
was the hair-salon posters that drove the highest response rates. Review of the
activity found that this success was potentially due to the environment lending
itself to discussion sparked by the topic and within the relevant community.
Power of language
Research undertaken by the Governments communication teams, has shown
that ensuring communication messaging and creative is inclusive of BMEs is
more important than having a separate media buying strategy.
Reaching transient
populations and
multiple occupancy
homes
See also: Homemovers, disengaged residents,
young people, students
Key factsvi
 2 million at current address for under 12 months
 35% or private renters been at current address for under one year
 Made-up of diverse sub-groups particular to area, for example young
professional, students, those in poverty, isolated individuals
Those who have recently moved are more likely to be under-registered, and this
includes those who move frequently. This group includes people in very different
social situations – from young professionals who rent with friends, to new
immigrant families establishing where to live, to isolated individuals who live in
multi-occupational properties without the income for longer-term accommodation.
They may be unaware of the need to register, or they may be disengaged with
the political process, but frequent movers have in common the fact that they
need to re-register when they move. Transient adults may also have under-18s
living with them who are also eligible to register.
Characteristics that affect engagement
 Unaware of need to re-register or update details
 May assume that council records are automatically updated
 Likely to be clustered in particular geographic locations, especially urban
areas
 Different sub-groups (recent immigrants, young professionals, isolated
individuals in poverty etc.) have very different lifestyles motivated by very
different things so segmenting the group is important
 Concentrating on other priorities such as settling in the UK, living in a new
city, looking for work etc.
 May be isolated or living with strangers that are unlikely to flag need to
register and may not pass on post or messages
 May have contact with other council services over address change
 May not have redirected mail from old address
Resources to use with mobile populations
Our website contains resources that you can use in engaging with mobile
populations:



Public engagement resources: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-ama/electoral-administrator/running-electoral-registration/public-engagementresources
Participation resources: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/i-ama/electoral-administrator/participation-resources-for-local-authorities
Resources for partners: http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/findinformation-by-subject/electoral-registration/partnership-working/resourcesfor-partners?
Direct contact
Example activities
 Data such as census information or other local authority data, can help
you to understand the incidence of mobility and the nature of mobility in
your registration area.
 Segmenting the group into sub-groups based on their characteristics may
help you to identify appropriate ways to reach them. For example it may
be that in your area many private renters are students, or that in one
location there are many low-cost houses in multiple occupation.
 Household enquiry forms will help to identify residents at properties for
which you have no details
 Frontline council staff that deal with public enquiries about address
changes could be briefed to highlight the need to register to vote at a new
address. These enquiries could be on any council service.
 Your website may have a ‘change of address notification, which sends
details to different departments of where someone has moved
 Other departments, service providers and frontline staff may be in contact
with new residents to the area – and may be sending communications in
which information could be provided
 Information could be provided directly through the door in rental areas if
the town or city.
Working with partners
Example activities
 One way to reach people who move regularly is via the other services and
agencies that they deal with when they move, for example schools,
council tax, housing benefit etc.
 Other charities and services may work with some of these groups and you
may be able to build relationships with them. For example those living in
multiple occupancy housing may be looking for social housing, may
receive mental health support, or may have been recently released from
prison.
 Look also to engage charities that work with homeless people and groups
that have contact with traveller communities
 It may be possible to engage landlords – including social housing – to
provide information to tenants.
 Larger multiple occupancy residencies such as hostels could be engaged
directly.
 Local area groups, residents associations and online community forums
could be contacted about putting posts on their websites or blogs,
displaying posters on notice boards
 Political party volunteers who canvass door-to-door may help with
spreading the registration message
Example partners
 Private and social landlords
 Local businesses that deliver
 Charities and support organisations and services
 Community forums, resident’s associations and other local groups
 Other departments and service providers
Raising awareness
You will need to think how to time awareness raising so that activities are coordinated and advertising has the maximum impact to be seen by as many
people as many times as possible. Think also about ways to calculate the
number of residents reached by the activity.
Example activities
 Consider transient populations in any advertising you undertake – for
example you may be able to advertise in rental area, or around public
transport hubs.
 A mobile advertising van could be used to visit particular areas of the town
or city to promote the message
Leeds electoral services make sure they use in-house expertise for targeting
harder to reach audiences. They have also developed an excellent relationship
with the Big Issue Foundation to encourage voter registration among homeless
people.
Reaching disabled
people and residents
with additional
communication needs
Key factsvii
 Over 11m people with a limiting long term illness, impairment or disability
in GB

The prevalence of disability rises with age - 15 per cent of working age
adults and 45 per cent of adults over State Pension age in Great Britain
are disabled
Direct contact
Example activities
 Produce communications in alternative formats such as large print, Braille,
easy read and audio.
 Where possible ask residents about their communication requirements so
that assumptions are not made about their preferred format.
 Ensure websites and online communication meets accessibility
requirements
 Ensure written documents are produced in Plain English (or Welsh) with
reasonable font size and good colour contrast to make them readable to
as many people as possible.
 Communications and forms should carry prominent information on where
blind and visually impaired can seek assistance
 Ensure frontline staff and canvassers are briefed on how to communicate
effectively with deaf and hearing impaired people
 Be aware that some deaf electors may wish to communicate with staff by
email, textphone or Typetalk.
 Induction loops should also be considered in the office, if not already
installed
 Review your accessibility scheme, and ensure residents with reduced
mobility and wheelchair users are able to access your office.
Working with partners
Example activities
 Local authority service provides may be able to identify ways to contact
disabled people who use particular services.



If your area contains residential accommodation catering for a particular
impairment or condition, you could contact residents or managers to
enquire about the preferred format for communications and then send
forms and letters directly in that format.
Charities, support organisations and social groups may be willing to
engage members on registration – or may be able to offer one-to-one help
where needed.
Engage local talking newspapers
Raising awareness
Example activities
 Ensure you awareness raising plans include a range of channels that will
reach disabled electors. Relying on one channel only may exclude certain
disabled people: for example, using posters only may not benefit many
visually impaired electors.
 Ensure publicity aimed at visually impaired people includes clear
information on what registration information and forms they will receive
and when, what the deadlines are, and where they can get help filling in
the form.
Reaching Over-75s
See also: Reaching disabled people
Key factsviii

one in six people in the population are
aged over 65
 2,890,000 people over 80 in the UK
 430,000 residents aged 90 and over
 45% of adults over State Pension age in GB are disabled (Office of
Disability Issues)
Older people are traditionally more likely to be registered. However, they may
also require additional support to complete forms, and information about access
and absent voting (including information about signature waivers where
appropriate).
Direct contact
Example activities
 Ensure communications are produced in formats that reach as many
people as possible – for example you may want to make information
available in large print.
 A significant minority of older people are likely to have a disability, so
ensure frontline staff are briefed to communicate effectively with residents
with visual and hearing impairments or mobility requirements.
 Family members may be well placed to raise registration with their older
relatives so consider flagging in other communications – particularly where
individuals are identified as having caring responsibilities.
Working with partners
Example activities
 Identify residential homes and sheltered accommodation in the area and
engage these on registration
 Local authority and partner services such as housing and transport may
identify opportunities for reaching older people
 Work with community organisations, charities and social groups to identify
opportunities for spreading registration messages and supporting
registration where needed.
 Volunteers such as befrienders may be able to provide one-to-one support
and could potentially be engaged through local volunteering structures.
Raising awareness
Example activities
 Consider placing advertisements in locations that are visited by older
people in your area – these may include clinics, libraries, community
centres
Reaching disengaged
residents
Reaching disengaged individuals and young
people if they are a target in your area will
involve using a combination of the approaches.
This is a wide audience, and some members
may be high users of social services and facing
a wide variety of complex challenges such as debt, mental health
problems, violent relationships, involvement with crime and family
truancy. Disengaged adults may also have influence over the children
and young people they live with who may also be eligible to register.
Characteristics that affect engagement
 Feel that messages are not for them
 Distrust of authority and the carrier of the message
 Difficult to motivate as may be disinterest or have other concerns
 Harder to get message through, so repetition and follow-up needed
 May have other priorities
 Spend lots of time at home
 Struggle with or have no access to technology or internet
Media consumption
 Heavy exposure to TV, newspapers and radio
 Medium exposure to magazines
 Light exposure to outdoor media and internet
Direct contact
Example activities
 Engage services that liaise directly with this audience to identify ways to
reach individuals. It may be that some households only trust those who
they have built up relationships with over time.
 Ensure information within the local authority on what has been found to
work on the doorstep and with individual households is shared with staff
who make home visits. Some household for example may respond to
incentives and sanctions, others may be open to persistence.
 Consider a range of communication methods, for some a letter could be
ignored while phone calls or visits in person may have more impact
Working with partners
Example activities
 Engage charities that work with the target group – these could include

groups supporting unemployed people, those in debt, with addictions or
mental health issues, or those experiencing domestic violence.
Local neighbourhood shops may be willing to display posters and leaflets.
Reaching rural
residents
Rural areas vary and whilst many are well
connected and have a high number of nearby
facilities, other areas are more isolated. Even
connected areas may have residents who
remain fairly isolated and may be harder to
engage. Communication approaches should
ensure rural residents are considered, particularly those who may not be reached
by city- and town-located advertising.
Working with partners
Example activities
 Small communities may rely on services such as volunteer medical
prescriptions delivery, care providers and health visitors
 Businesses such as grocery vans too may deliver to the area and these
may be willing to engage on registration.
 Structures such as Parish Councils and Neighbourhood Watch could be
engaged to provide information or identify opportunities for engaging
residents
 Residents themselves may be willing to spread the message to
neighbours and friends and this may be worth flagging in communications.
Raising awareness
Example activities
 Poster advertisements could be placed near locations that are most likely
to be noticed by local residents – these could include notice boards, bus
stops, village halls and post boxes.
 Some rural communities may hold regular events such as exercise
classes, concerts or history groups and leaflets could be provided at
these.
 Where hubs such as shops, pubs, Post Offices and surgeries exist, look at
providing information in these locations
 Local newsletters and village magazines may offer opportunities to
provide details on registration. Some may offer low-cost advertising space.
Residents living in gated communities or
caravan parks
A number of your residents are likely to live in communities with strictly controlled
entrances. These could be caravan parks, a community of houses with a
‘gatekeeper’, or high-rise blocks with entry-phones or security systems.
There can be particular challenges for canvassers in getting beyond the
gatekeeper. Entry-phones, for example, have the potential to reduce the number
of ‘successful’ contacts and thus increase the number of repeat visits (and
therefore time) to gain access.
Canvassers need to be confident, resourceful, and be armed with tried and
tested strategies and ‘sales patter’ to gain access.
Letters addressed ‘to the occupier’ may not always reach the intended recipient
living in these communities, leading to some residents being unaware that they
have been sent, for example, a HEF. Equally, temporary residents at a caravan
park may be unaware that they can register, or could be worried about the
ramifications of appearing on formal documentation. Raising awareness and
working with partners will help engage these residents and make them more
likely to respond to a HEF and ITR.
Working with partners
Example activities
 Build relationships with gatekeepers. These individuals are exposed to a
large number of people trying to gain access and are often very protective
of their residents. Building relationships takes time and persistence –
often over years – but once trust has been established, the gatekeepers
can be a significant source of information and help.
 Site managers of caravan parks should be contacted as they may be able
to provide Electoral Registration Officers with information on changes of
residents.
 It may be possible to engage local estate agents and large landlords to
include information with rental agreements or provide leaflets when keys
are handed over
 Local area groups, residents associations and online community forums
could be contacted about placing posts on their websites or blogs and
displaying posters on notice boards.
 Work with organisations such as the British Holiday & Home Parks
Association, who may be willing to issue guidance to their
managers/landlords.
 Another way of reaching these residents is via the other services and
agencies that they deal with, for example schools, council tax, housing
benefit etc.

Travellers may settle at locations designated by the local authority.
Officers at unitary and county councils will have responsibility for
maintaining these designated sites and may be able to assist Electoral
Registration Officers in identifying those who would be eligible to register.
Raising awareness
Example activities
 Where hubs such as shops, pubs, Post Offices and surgeries exist for
gated communities, look at providing information in these locations.
 Poster advertisements could be placed near locations that are most likely
to be noticed by residents of gated communities – these could include
notice boards, bus stops, village halls and post boxes.
 Local newsletters and village magazines may offer opportunities to
provide details on registration. Some may offer low-cost advertising space
 Issue guidance via organisations such as the British Holiday and Home
Parks Association reminding landlords and managers of caravan parks of
their responsibilities and the importance of voter registration.
 Information could also be provided explaining why personal visits have to
be undertaken, and why those visits are now throughout the year.
 Other departments, service providers and frontline staff may be in contact
and may be sending communications in which information could be
included.
i
Data from MEC (2013)
Communities and Local Government, English Housing Survey 2010-11
iii Census 2011
iv Department of Education, Participation in education, training and employment by 16-18 year
olds in England
v Census 2011
vi Communities and Local Government, English Housing Survey 2010-11
vii Office for Disability Issues, quoting Family Resources Survey 2010/11
viii Census 2011
ii