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How to...files
Black and ethnnic minority communities
Working with black and minority ethnic groups to promote electoral awareness
Although not exclusively a problem in black and minority ethnic (BME) communities when it comes to electoral registration, many groups are significantly under represented. This is particularly true for black Africans, the Chinese and Bangladeshi communities.
This section looks at some of the steps you can take to ensure that people from BME communities have every opportunity to participate in the electoral process.
How to:
Don't forget to look at our toolbox and case studies for resources and real life examples on working with BME communities.
How to organise translations
If there are particular community groups you know are under registered in your area, you may want to provide materials in the appropriate languages. Don't forget that the Electoral Commission does provide a range of information and forms in a variety of languages but you may want to tailor information to a local perspective.
Issues to consider:
- Which languages? The Electoral Commission has a set of standard languages which we translate our material into. Your area may have particular language needs so it is worthwhile contacting community groups to see if there is a demand for translated materials. Just because you haven't had any requests doesn't necessarily mean that people do not require translations, it might just mean that they don't know the information is available so it's worth doing a bit of outreach work.
- Time and budget: Have you built in enough time and budget into your project to accommodate translations? Many organisations don't factor in how long translations can take and end up having to pay extra for a rush job.
- Layout: Your translation may take up more space than the English version of your document. Can you increase the number of pages or size of the final document? Don't forget to allow for extra time and costs for design of the completed translation. Many translation agencies will be able to organise this for you.
- Proofing: Just because you don't speak the language doesn't mean you can't proof the document. You can check that punctuation, colours and headings are all in the right place. It is best to get your translator to check the final printers proofs just in case.
Useful tools: The Electoral Commission is always keen to get feedback on the kinds of translated information practitioners require. Please email us at dopolitics@electroalcommission.org.uk to let us know your thoughts.
How to promote voter registration at citizenship ceremonies
Since 1 January 2004, all new UK citizens must attend a citizenship ceremony, run by local authorities. You might want to get in contact with the registrar at your council to see if you can promote voter registration at these events. Here are some ideas:
- A citizenship ceremony usually begins with an introduction and welcome, sometimes from a local dignitary, highlighting the importance of taking part in the local community. You could ask the speaker to stress the importance of registration, putting it at the heart of the citizens role from the beginning.
- New citizens are individually presented with a citizenship pack. These could include a generic electoral registration form and information about the electoral process.
- Liaise with the registrars to ensure a smooth registration process and provide quality control.
- In England, county councils may run combined citizenship ceremonies for district councils in the area. You will need to coordinate to make sure voter registration forms are sent to the correct electoral services department.
- Where possible, you could attend the ceremony to collect voter registration forms or else provide a box for people to post them in on the day.
Estimated timeline: Two hours preparation for each ceremony and a morning/afternoon for attending the ceremony.
Estimated budget: Minimal, just travel costs and time. You may want to produce special registration forms which you can easily identify to track how many people register to vote at the ceremonies.
Further information
