A CAMPAIGN to encourage more young people to vote in this year’s General Election will continue at Wiltshire’s secondary schools over the coming weeks.

With the election looming on May 7, potential first-time voters countrywide are being educated in electoral registration changes and the overall voting process by the Bite The Ballot social organisation.

Bite The Ballot has been leading a voting registration drive across Wiltshire since the start of the new year and has just completed a series of sessions at Wiltshire College’s campuses at Lackham, Salisbury, Trowbridge and Chippenham, including a Take Power event at Wiltshire College Trowbridge’s Arc Theatre to mark National Voter Registration Day on February 5.

Since the last election, the onus is now on the individual to register, not by household, and Bite The Ballot was formed to make potential voters aware of the new registration procedure and engage young people in the voting process.

Grace Ashman, the community engagement officer for Wiltshire, said: “Bite The Ballot is non-party specific and the Basics sessions run throughout the UK are aimed at getting young people thinking about the voting process and stressing to them the importance of registering to vote.

“Some 350 students across the Wiltshire College campuses have participated and overall, I thought the sessions were a great success, the students were engaged and came up with some really insightful comments on the issues we discussed.

“I now hope those students over 18 and eligible to vote are preparing to make their voices heard by casting their vote at the ballot box in May.”

During the first week of February, a record-breaking 441,500 people registered to vote across the UK, with 166,000 registering on National Voter Registration Day itself.

In Wiltshire, the Bite The Ballot message will continue among sixth form students, with Chippenham’s Abbeyfield School, Devizes School and John of Gaunt, Trowbridge holding sessions over the next few weeks.