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Bite The Ballot’s submission to the Speaker's Commission on Digital Democracy Bite The Ballot (‘BTB’) is a party-neutral youth democracy organisation that is: - running UK-wide voter registration and democratic engagement campaigns - updating the law to revitalise and invigorate British democracy, and, crucially - leading digital, democratic engagement projects that are making British politics easier to understand, more engaging and more accessible in the 21st century. Our core values when engaging those ‘furthest away’ from politics are to be unconventional, inclusive and bold; three words you may not associate with contemporary decision-making. Below is an overview of our core digital tools and projects from 2014. 1. ‘The Basics’ With the help of on-screen idols and influencers, and utilising an issue-based approach to politics, these two experiential games (and clear ‘call to action’) demystify the voter registration process and promote the simple, but powerful, message that people aged 16-24 are ‘votes worth winning’. BTB take these resources around the country - into schools, colleges, youth clubs and students’ unions - but thanks to the online explanatory video, they may be played anywhere with access to a projector and an internet connection. - BTB webpage link - .pdf resource (‘Facilitators’ guide) - ‘The (digital) Basics’ (YouTube) video link - ‘Show me the Money’ (online) game link - Example social media posts of BTB and partners’ sessions (including school and college visits with MPs and local councillors, local authorities’ events, BTB ‘train-a-trainer’ workshops and participants’ reactions) 2. National Voter Registration Day (NVRD) A week-long (2-8 February) celebration of action registering people to vote, utilising the power of social media to drive thousands of eligible applicants to register to vote online on 5 February. In 2014 - the inaugural NVRD - BTB registered approximately 50,625 people at a cost of 25p per registration (roughly 100 times more cost-effective than the Electoral Commission) as #NVRD trended on Twitter for more than nine hours. - BTB webpage link - Promotional #TakePower video - .pdf report (‘NVRD 2014: The Report’) - Example #NVRD 2014 social media posts (Ed Miliband MP, (popstar) Eliza Doolittle, Sandwell Council, Middlesex University Students’ Union, (Asda Clapham) volunteers. - Example promo. video (Ben Hanlin) - Example social media posts from the ‘NVRD 2015 Summit’: UK Youth, Max Rushden, Rick Edwards and NUS UK. 3. Grassroots campaigning - BTB Community Engagement Officers (CEOs) are a grassroots network tasked with registering and inspiring young voters in their local areas. They host and facilitate activities in their communities with the aim of engaging young voters and installing a belief in the importance of political participation. Here’s an example social media post of BTB’s Birmingham CEO leading a session on young BAME voter registration. - BTB’s first ‘Educate, engage and empower conference’ - held on International Democracy Day 2014 - officially launched BTB’s #TakePower video and provided a platform for civil society groups to actively champion methods of increasing the number of young people registering to vote. See Michael Adams’ review. 4. Leaders Live In collaboration with BITE News (YouTube), ITV News and Twitter UK, BTB recently delivered a UK’s first by live- streaming discussions between the UK party leaders, (an online audience of) young people and (a studio audience of) influencers about the parties’ policies and 2015 manifesto priorities. #LeadersLive is the only ‘2015 leaders debate’ to include UKIP, the Green Party, Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party. It has focussed on policies - not personalities - allowing young voters to put questions to the leaders directly, either by contacting BTB or via the influencers themselves. On online poll has allowed the public to select one topic for discussion in each debate. - BITE News trailer - YouTubers’ explanatory videos on the Leaders Live policy areas (Immigration, Health, Education, European Union, Crime, Democracy, Foreign Policy, Economy & Jobs, Transport, Environment) Example social media interactions 1. Natalie Bennett (leader, Green Party of England and Wales) - Full video, ‘wash-up’ video and post-stream interview video a. Bennett’s posts - Bennett’s promotion and build-up - Bennett asks her followers to vote for the ‘people’s choice’ topic b. Internal build-up - BITE News promotion - BTB promotion - BTB asks followers for questions and comments to put to Bennett - ITV News asks followers for questions and comments to put to Bennett - Twitter UK ask their followers to tweet #YesNat and #NoNat to assess reactions c. Influencers’ build-up - Jazza John generates support for Leaders Live - Jamal Edwards asks followers for questions (on education) to put to Bennett - Pre-stream, Hannah Witton asks about the environment questions and receives responses d. SnappyTV (real-time highlights released throughout the show) - BITE News’ clip of Bennett being quizzed on the Greens recycling record in Brighton and Hove - BITE News’ clip of the audience’s reaction to her policies (on the environment) 2. Nigel Farage (leader, UK Independence Party) - Full video, ‘wash-up’ video and post-stream interview video a. Examples of Farage’s and UKIP build-up - @UKIP tweet - @Nigel_Farage tweet - @UKIP tweet b. Influencers’ build-up - Lucy Moon (YouTuber @meowitslucy) tweet - Max Rushden (‘Soccer AM’ presenter @MaxRushden) tweet - Rebecca Brown (YouTuber @Beckie0) tweet - Jamal Edwards (digital entrepreneur @jamaledwards) tweet - Pre-stream, Beckie0 asks followers for questions to put Farage c. YouTube clips related to Farage’s show on BITE News d. Examples of post-stream reactions on BuzzFeed (and from Farage) 5. Examples of other campaigns - #WeDontCare: May 2014 EU Parliament election (playlist): seeking to encourage greater turnout - #TheAmendment: Wales Bill 2014-15 (#TheAmendment posts and videos I and II): seeking to amend the Wales Bill to (a) bring about voter registration in schools and colleges, and (b) ‘tick box’ opportunities to register when interacting with government services (e.g. driver’s licence applications) [ongoing] .
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