Public awareness for the Scottish Independence Referendum

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1 Public awareness for the Scottish Independence Referendum Wednesday 26 June Giving voters the information they need to participate During Parliament s scrutiny of both the Franchise Bill and the Referendum Bill there has been considerable interest in the Commission s plans for public awareness ahead of the referendum. This note responds to that interest by setting out our overall approach and the main elements of our public awareness strategy. Further detail will be developed over the coming months, including the exact timing of our public awareness campaigns and the advertising resources and templates we will make available to Counting Officers and others. We will continue to work closely with all those involved in the delivery of public awareness at the referendum as our plans develop further and provide updates to the Scottish Parliament as appropriate. 1 Background 1.1 The Scottish Independence Referendum Bill, currently before the Scottish Parliament, includes provision that the Commission must take such steps as they consider appropriate to promote public awareness and understanding in Scotland about the referendum, the referendum question, and voting in the referendum. 1.2 The Chief Counting Officer (CCO) and Counting Officers (COs) who will be responsible for running the referendum - will also have an important role to play in their local areas in promoting public awareness of the referendum and how to participate in it. We will work with the CCO to provide COs with guidance and resources to support their local public awareness activities and to ensure consistency of information for voters across Scotland. 1.3 The Commission has previously run public awareness campaigns for referendums, including the referendum on the UK Parliamentary Voting System and the referendum on the law-making powers of the National Assembly for Wales in These awareness campaigns provided Information on the subject matter of the referendums, how to register, and how to vote.

2 1.4 No two polls are the same and the Commission s approach to public awareness will be informed by research with the public, including our question assessment research which found consistently high general levels of awareness of the referendum. The referendum clearly already is and will remain an issue of very high salience to the public between now and polling day. People will find out information and form their views from a range of different sources including the media, campaigners, their friends and family. This is a natural and important part of how public debate will be conducted and there is clearly no need for a public information campaign aimed at raising general awareness of the referendum. 1.5 However, the Commission s question assessment research also showed that people want factual information in advance about what will happen after the referendum. Parliament will be aware that we have asked the UK and Scottish Governments to provide that clarity. We know from previous research that people may also benefit from being given practical information about how to participate, particularly those who are voting for the first time. 1.6 The inclusion of 16 and 17 year olds in the franchise presents an additional public awareness challenge. The Commission has been working with a range of organisations to make sure plans are in place to give 16 and 17 year olds the information they need (see below). 2 Aims of public awareness activity 2.1 Our priority is that there should be no barriers to voters participating in the referendum and the aim of our public awareness activity will be to provide voters with clear, neutral and accessible information to enable them to cast their vote confidently. This will include ensuring all eligible electors understand that they need to be registered in order to vote, understand how to register and the deadline for doing so. 2.2 It will also include providing information to voters on: The date of the referendum How to fill in the ballot paper How to vote by post or proxy / polling station opening hours If the clarity is provided by the UK and Scottish Governments on the process that will follow the referendum we would also include this information in our public awareness plans. 2.3 In addition, specific activity will target year olds to make sure they are registered and know how to participate. 2

3 3 Strategy 3.1 The public awareness activity will take place in two phases: Specific activity aimed at year olds to coincide with the annual canvass (autumn 2013) Mass awareness campaign aimed at all eligible voters in the lead up to the referendum (summer 2014) 3.2 The autumn canvass will take place from 1 October 2013 to 10 March Along with the household registration form, a young voter registration form will also be distributed to enable Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to collect and confirm details of any 15 year olds who will reach their 16 th birthday on or before 18 September Effective public awareness activity aimed at driving response to the canvass will ensure that the registers are as complete and accurate as possible ahead of the referendum. 3.3 Registering young people is primarily the responsibility of EROs. During the canvass EROs will lead direct engagement work locally with the public and encourage people to take the necessary action to ensure they are registered. We will provide them with guidance and set standards for how they should do this. This guidance will be issued in July During the canvass, we will support EROs local activity by running national public awareness activity aimed at year olds to draw their attention to the voter registration form, explain that they need to return it and to direct them to further information if needed. This activity is likely to include social media and online advertising. 3.5 In the immediate lead up to the referendum, we will be running a Scotland wide public awareness campaign aimed at all eligible voters. The campaign will start in summer 2014 and is expected to include TV, radio and online advertising. We are also planning to send an information booklet to every household in Scotland. 3.6 We have asked the Scottish and UK Governments to clarify for voters what would happen next in the event of a Yes or No vote at the referendum. We are aware that the Scottish and UK Governments are currently considering this issue, although we are not part of these discussions. If this clarity is provided it would be included in our information booklet, along with other information about how to participate. However, we will not seek to explain the issues or campaign arguments. The booklet and any advertising materials will be tested with voters to ensure that the information they communicate is relevant and clear and the booklet would be made available in accessible formats including Easy Read, British Sign Language, large print, Braille and audio. 3.7 There are certain communities that we know to be under-registered and others who may face additional barriers to voting and we will work with a range of stakeholder organisations to provide additional targeted information for these communities. This will include providing information on registering to vote for people 3

4 who are homeless or in temporary accommodation and also providing tailored information for organisations working with disabled people so that they know how to access voter information in accessible formats and they are also aware of what assistance they can expect when they come to vote. We will also work with youth organisations to ensure that we are reaching young people through as many channels as possible. 3.8 As noted above, Counting Officers at the referendum will be responsible for running public awareness campaigns in their local areas. The Electoral Management Board has an established Communications Network made up of communications staff from all local authorities in Scotland. We will continue to work closely with this network to share our detailed public awareness plans in order to inform their local awareness plans. We will also provide them with a suite of materials based on our advertising materials for them to adapt and use locally. This will help to ensure consistency of voter information messages across Scotland year olds 4.1 As the majority of year olds in Scotland are still in school, it is likely that they will seek information about both the referendum process and the referendum issues from teachers and other education professionals. This provides those professionals with the opportunity to support the development of young people s political literacy and their likelihood of participating in the referendum. However, it will be important for any information provided in this setting to be accurate, neutral and consistent. The Commission, along with the Electoral Management Board for Scotland, has been working with educational bodies including the Association of Directors in Education Scotland (ADES), Education Scotland and School Leaders Scotland to issue a briefing for teachers and other youth and education professionals on the guidance and resources available to support them to carry out learning activity on the referendum. 4.2 There will also be young people eligible to vote at the referendum but who are not in full time education. We will work to identify and work with organisations who can help us to disseminate information to these audiences including youth training and employment agencies and voluntary sector bodies. 4.3 A number of young first time voters will be in further or higher education in Scotland and we will also run public awareness activity aimed at students. As many young people will be making the transition from home to student accommodation around the time of the referendum in September 2014 we will ensure that any information targeted to these young people clearly sets out the factors they will need to consider in deciding whether to register at their home or term time address. This will include how to apply for a postal or proxy vote if appropriate to their particular circumstance. We will continue to work with NUS Scotland and also directly with further and higher education bodies to co-ordinate information targeted at students. 4

5 5 Other audiences 5.1 As with previous public awareness campaigns, we will be working with the Ministry of Defence to ensure that all eligible Service Voters have access to information about the referendum and how to participate in it. 5.2 As the date of the referendum approaches the Scottish media will be able to play a key public service role by carrying information for voters on how to participate alongside their coverage of the campaign arguments. We will work with the media to ensure that they have accurate information on the process and this will include running briefings for journalists and providing media handbooks containing factual and neutral information about the referendum process. For further information: Please contact Sarah Mackie, Senior Officer - Communications on or smackie@electoralcommission.org.uk 5