School pupils in Dundee are being targeted by electoral registration staff in order to ensure all 15 to 17-year-olds will be eligible to vote in next year’s independence referendum.
Staff are working closely with schools and further and higher education establishments in the area to gather data on all students in the age group for the 2014 poll.
Returning Officer David Dorward said: “We already have data on the young people who will be 18 next year through our usual canvassing exercise. But there is likely to be an additional 2,800 16 to 17-year-olds who will be eligible to vote in the referendum, plus about 1,500 15-year-olds who will be 16 by September next year.”
The council’s education department and the city’s nine secondary schools, as well as the High School of Dundee are supporting the task.
Mr Dorward added: “Voter registration forms and help with filling them in will soon be available at all of our secondary schools. Teachers have embraced the idea of helping their pupils to make sure they are registered to vote, and the only way to do this is by filling in the registration form and returning it to me.”
Other initiatives to try to encourage 16 to 18-year-olds who are not at school are also under way, including discussions with colleges and universities.