Voting Participation

Abstract

In 2005, major old age charities in Germany and the United Kingdom ran election campaigns in which they used the high voting participation and the high number of their constituents to put political pressure on candidates and parties. In Britain, for example, they organised public events in which they confronted the old age spokespersons of the major parties with the problems of British older people, such as poverty, and asked them to sign statements acknowledging these problems.

Those who want to further burden 20 million pensioners with pension cuts must be brave enough to say this before the national election. Then, pensioners will know what to do when they go to cast their vote.

Walter Hirrlinger, president of the German pensioners’ organisation VdK, in June 2005 in the run-up to the national election (VdK 2006).

This election may very well be the first determined by the votes of the over 50s. There are 20 million people in the UK over the age of 50. Also, older people are more likely to vote.

From the 2005 General Election manifesto of Age Concern England, the largest British old age interest group (Age Concern England 2006b).