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March 1, 2024
Non-partisan voter turnout campaigns are a time-honored strategy to advance fair elections. Increasingly, electoral participation is on the agenda as half the countries in the world have suffered democratic declines ranging from flawed elections to curtailed rights, according to a 2023 International IDEA report. In England, millions of voters are said to be missing from electoral registers, while a third of voters did not vote in the recent UK general elections.
With the upcoming May 2024 mayoral and general elections in London, efforts are underway to boost voter participation across all demographics, with a specific focus on engaging football fans and the younger voting-eligible generation. Fulham FC has collaborated with the youth-led voting movement, “My Life My Say,” to launch a non-partisan “Don’t Sit on the Sidelines” campaign ahead of the elections.
The campaign is supported by the #iWill Movement, a youth movement launched in 2013 in the UK to empower collective action for change, and Shape History, a social impact communications agency. The collaborative effort is expected to potentially attract other Premier League football clubs, including the likes of Arsenal, Spurs, Brentford and Crystal Palace. Fulham FC has already offered free match-day advertising to the campaign.
Nearly 20% of eligible voters in London and more than 3 million across England are not registered to vote, as reported by the London Standard. During the 2021 London mayoral elections, only 40.9 percent of eligible voters participated in the Mayoral election and only 41.8 percent participated in the London Assembly elections, according to the Electoral Commission.
Sports teams can be effective in getting out the vote by targeting members of their fan base who might otherwise stay home on election day. In particular, a significant portion of unregistered voters in London are from the 18-24 demographic, who make up a large part of Premier League fans in the UK. The Don’t Sit on the Sidelines campaign aims to register all young voters before the next election.
Another barrier facing young people and ethnic minorities are new voter ID laws requiring photo ID to receive a ballot. These demographics are five times more likely to be turned away from the polls on election day, according to a report by the Electoral Commission. In advance of the upcoming election, London Labour estimates that 15 percent of eligible voters in London do not have proper ID to be allowed to vote. In addition, one in five 18 to 34-year-olds lack suitable ID, according to research conducted by the mayor’s office.
Sports teams and athletes have been effective in getting voters to the polls around the world, whether through targeted advertisements or national voting campaigns. In the United States, for example, major sporting leagues including the NFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL, MLB and MLS have initiated mid-term and presidential election voting campaigns to encourage millions of sports fans to get to the polls, even transforming sports stadiums into election-day voting sites. Global sporting brands like Under Armour and Nike have also targeted their consumer bases through voting campaigns and advertisements.
The London mayoral election is scheduled for May 2, 2024. The election to determine London’s next mayor coincides with elections for the 25-member London Assembly and local elections throughout England and Wales. In an article for The Standard, Dan Lawes, head of partnerships at My Life My Say, said: “It is so important that football fans don’t sit on the sidelines in a critical year of elections, and get their voices heard on issues that they feel passionately about. We look forward to working with more clubs in the future.”
Organizers hope people can have a voice in what matters. The voting efforts are a testament to the transformative potential of sports, rallying citizens and fans to actively shape the future of their city through the power of their vote.
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