Partnership aims to register young voters Electric Picnic in Laois

Electric Picnic will be used to encourage 18 to 34 years to get registered ahead of the upcoming Presidential Elections. 

An Coimisiún Toghcháin, Ireland’s independent electoral commission and Electric Picnic are partnering for this year’s festival to remind young voters to use their voice and to raise awareness of the upcoming Presidential election to be held this autumn.

An Coimisiún’s National Election & Democracy Study (NEDS) of the 2024 General Election found that the 18 to 34-year-olds surveyed made up the biggest cohort of eligible voters (68%) who weren’t registered to vote and therefore did not have their say in the most recent election. 

Electric Picnic is the most popular event with this age group and so presents an opportunity for An Coimisiún to engage and encourage them to register.

MindField is the home of tough questions, inspiring answers, heated debate, provocative ideas, compelling podcasts and magnificent speeches at Electric Picnic, so this is where Picnickers can find An Coimisiún’s team, who will be running mock elections, voting competitions, and encouraging festival goers to get registered at www.CheckTheRegister.ie.

With 80,000 people attending the three-day sold-out festival just ahead of the commencement of the Presidential campaign, this is an invaluable opportunity to engage directly with younger, potential voters who may not yet be registered and may have questions around the importance of voting.

The Laois festival will mark the start of An Coimisiún’s extensive outreach programme around the country, which will also include the National Ploughing Championships and Colleges’ Freshers Weeks.

Electric Picnic Festival Director and CEO of Festival Republic, Melvin Benn said:  “Democracy is about involvement, it’s about being heard and it’s about community, all things which resonate deeply with Electric Picnic and so we are proud to kick off this partnership with An Coimisiún Toghcháin.”

Chief Executive of An Coimisiún Toghcháin, Art O’Leary stated: “Our evidence suggests that people under 35 remain such an elusive audience for us. We need to do much more to encourage young people to register and to get out and vote. Many of the latest generation of would-be voters will lose their voices singing along over Electric Picnic weekend, but it’s so important that they don’t lose their voice as we go to the polls to choose who will succeed Michael D. Higgins as our next President.

“We want people to play a full part on the Main Stage in October, not just to sit through the encore. Our objective is to engage, educate, and raise awareness about democracy – to do that we have to meet people where they hang out.”