Welcome to the Youth in East Northamptonshire (YEN) Conference 2014 When you’re 18, you can vote! Your right to vote is a fundamental democratic right. It is the cornerstone of democracy… Whilst today is all about discovering other ways you can have your say, it’s important to understand the history of voting and democracy in the UK and across the rest of the world!

The history of the ballot box is an interesting one...

1914 Suffragette movement - starts the fight for women’s right to vote Women over the age of 30 are given the right to vote Women over the age of 21 are given the right to vote. Picture taken in 1914 (100 years this year)

Civil Rights movement within the USA – The right to vote for African-Americans Activists used all sorts of methods to be heard: ‘Sit Ins’ – A form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change Boycotts –An act of freely refraining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. The bus boycotts during this time were effective, as without black customers, the bus company lost revenue and the American economy suffered

The role of social media: Social media streams such as Facebook and Twitter have been instrumental in democratic movements across the world. They allow the voice of the protestor to be heard globally and for mass protests to be created. In North Africa and the Middle East in 2010, the role of social media and digital technologies allowed citizens within areas affected to come together and protest.

Worldwide, people use a variety of tactics to be heard and be given the right to vote. Resulting in millions of people able to vote for the first time in their life.

16 and 17 year olds were allowed to vote in the recent Scottish Referendum. What do you think about that? Most recently…

We’ve come a long way!