With 429,886 people in Cornwall registered to vote in next week’s Parliamentary election, almost 20,000 more than the number who registered to vote in the recent unitary council elections, Acting Returning Officer Kate Kennally is encouraging everyone to make sure they use their vote on June 8. 

The Council’s electoral service staff have processed 18,862 new voter registration applications since the local council elections on May 4, with overseas applications increasing by 400. They have also processed more than 10,000 new postal vote applications over the past month – bringing the total number of postal votes in Cornwall to 84,348.

One of the groups showing a significant increase in voter registration levels over the past two months is young people.

With research showing that 18- to 24-year-olds are the most under represented age group at the ballot box, earlier this year the Council staged a campaign aimed specifically at young people in Cornwall to improve voter registration rates ahead of the local elections in May.

The overall turnout for parliamentary elections in Cornwall has increased by two percent since 2010, with 294,828 (69.75%) people casting their vote in 2015 compared with 277, 835 (67.21%) in 2010.  Cornwall’s figure was above the national average in both elections.