Poll finds twice as many young people register to vote since 2017 election

More than double the number of young people are registering to vote in the upcoming election compared to 2017. Photo: Kirsty O'Connor / PA - Credit: PA Wire/PA Images

Nearly double the number of young people are registering to vote in the upcoming election compared to 2017.

Since the election was called 737,775 18-24 year-olds have registered to vote, compared to 368,965 in the equivalent period in 2017.

It is a 100% increase in the number who have signed up to cast their ballot next month, according to analysis by Vote For Your Future.

According to data from the Register to vote service, the total number of applications has passed two million. After 23 days of the election campaign in 2017, only 1.1 million had registered to vote.

The total registrations among under 35s is 1,357,436 for 2019, compared to 755,785 in 2017. This represents an 80% increase.

If the distribution of applications from 2017 repeats itself this year, over 3 million under 35s are expected to have signed up by the November 26 deadline, Vote for Your Future say.

READ MORE: Gallagher brother who said we ‘have to leave’ applied for Irish passport after vote READ MORE: UKIP candidate claims illegal immigrants are coming in by paragliderLara Spirit, the director of non-partisan campaign for ensuring young people’s voices are heard, said: “It’s a myth that young people don’t care about their futures – record numbers are now ready to vote on December 12.

“After a year in which our generation has made its voice heard on issues like the climate crisis, period poverty and mental health, more 18-24 year olds are registering to vote than ever before.

“This unprecedented activity comes at a time when Vote For Your Future’s own registration ads have been seen more than 20 million times across social media platforms, outperforming the political parties’ best ads from last week by four times.”