News / Bristol
Free beer for student voters in Bristol
If there was ever a tried and tested way to get Bristol’s student population to shake off any political apathy and make their voices heard, free beer is surely it.
Landlords in the city have joined forces in a bid to get young people into the polling booths by offering them a pint when they register to vote.
Pub owner Joby Andrews launched the ‘Vote This Year – Get Free Beer’ campaign in response to the snap General Election which will be held on June 8, in a bid to engage the city’s younger population and combat low turnout turnout of the 18-24 age group, who are almost half as likely to vote as those aged 65 plus.
is needed now More than ever
“I was apathetic and not engaged when I was younger and didn’t vote as I didn’t see the point,” said Andrews.
“But with what’s going on around the world and here in the UK these days it seems more important than ever. I’m motivated by this to try and get people, especially the young, to engage in what will massively effect their futures and register to vote.
“If they love beer as much as I did back then, a free pint will hopefully encourage them to register, so when it comes to polling day on June 8, it’ll be much easier for them to vote and make their voice heard.”
Andrews, from event bar specialists Refresh West and landlord of a number of Bristol pubs, kicked off with a launch event at The Lazy Dog and hopes to be pulling pints around the clock as time is ticking with only two weeks for people to register by the deadline of May 22.
Pubs across other major cities, including London and Manchester have signed up to give newly-registered voters a free drink, with more joining every day.
All participating punters have to do is go online, register to vote and then take the email they receive as confirmation in to one of the signed up bars on the website as proof.
The email confirmation has to have been received since the launch of the campaign on May 8, 2017.
Participants are then signed off on a central system run by the campaign, so they cannot claim more than one drink. For people who have already registered there are competitions for festival tickets on the website, too.
Main photo by Simon Galloway
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