Elsie Lange
It is estimated that there are more than 650,000 eligible Australians who are unenrolled to vote – more than the populations of Hume and Whittlesea put together.
And with two major elections on the horizon – the federal election some time in the first half of this year and the Victorian state election in November – Hume councillor Jarrod Bell has taken to TikTok to get the kids on board.
“If you live in Australia and you’re 16 years or older, it’s time for you to enrol to vote,” Mr Bell said in the video, also shared to his other social media accounts.
Mr Bell told Star Weekly that being the youngest councillor in Hume council and one of the youngest in Victoria, communicating is about knowing where your audience lives.
“Ultimately, young people aren’t reading newspapers, or they’re not watching television or the six o’clock news these days,” Mr Bell said.
“They’re getting their interaction, they’re getting their news and getting their information through social media, through their friends and through platforms like TikTok.”
Mr Bell is just one of many public figures encouraging political engagement through the popular platform and in his video said the decision not to enrol to vote was a “political choice”.
“You are choosing for other people to exercise power over you,” Mr Bell said.
“If you’re going to make a political choice, you might as well have control over it, you might as well take part.”
To enrol to vote, head to: www.aec.gov.au/enrol/
