A ST GENEVIEVE'S pupil is single-handedly running a campaign in her school to get all 16-18-year-olds on the electoral register.
Aimee Lee (17) is a Year 14 student at the Stewartstown Road school and is heading a voter registration campaign called 21st Century Suffragettes.
21st Century Suffragettes Campaign, which is is made up of students from across the North, is a bold initiative aimed at combatting voter apathy and encouraging young people to actively participate in democracy.
The campaign, sponsored by the National Education Union (NEU), draws inspiration from the historical Suffragettes who fought for the right to vote for women.
The campaign focuses on empowering young individuals to register on the electoral roll as soon as they receive their national insurance number at the age of 16. The objective is to address the democratic deficit by instilling the importance of civic engagement, policy impact, and overall participation in democratic institutions.
"I am very passionate about social issues," explained Aimee. "46 per cent of 18 and 19-year-olds are registered to vote even though registration opens at 16-years-old.
"Women, in the grand scheme of things only received the right to vote not that long ago and we are not using it the way we should. If we didn't have the right to vote, we would be out fighting for it, so we need to use that right.
"Young people need represented and in order to have their say, they need to be registered and they need to go out and vote.
"Young people are less inclined to care about orange and green politics. If we want change, we need to vote for it. I want to see every young person at 18-years-old vote."
