Question

To ask the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, how much the Commission has spent on direct advertising to increase registration of (a) young people aged 18 to 25 and (b) members of the expatriate community.

The Electoral Commission undertakes voter registration and public awareness campaigns in the lead up to each major poll, including advertising targeted directly at recognised under-registered groups such as people aged 18 to 25 and UK citizens living overseas.

The tables below gives totals for advertising placed explicitly and exclusively to target these two audiences in the two campaigns run in the lead up to polls in May and June 2017. For the May elections, the figures include advertising targeted at 16-17 year olds given the lower voting age for these polls in Scotland.

People within these categories are also likely to see advertising which reaches them as part of different target groups (such as recent home movers), wider age groups (such as 18-35 year olds) or indeed advertising targeted at the general population. It is not possible to disaggregate these figures and include them here.