“VoteyMcVoteface”

"Cameron enlists tech groups to boost youth turnout for EU poll"

Concerned that young people will fail to vote in the EU referendum, the prime minister has enlisted technology companies including Facebook, Uber, Snap Fashion and The Lad Bible to generate ideas to boost turnout.

Asked at a meeting at Downing Street how to get those aged 18-24 to the ballot box on June 23, Jenny Griffiths, 28, the founder of Snap Fashion, came up with a “VoteyMcVoteface” campaign, which will be launched on social media this weekend.

Young people will be asked to take a grinning selfie of their “vote face” and share it on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, showing they have registered to vote with the same hashtag as the campaign name.

A Downing Street source said the idea was well received by David Cameron. “The PM believes it is essential that we all do everything we can to encourage more young people to register to vote in a referendum that will have such a huge impact on their futures,” he said.

The initiatives come at a time when the government itself is prevented from trying to boost voter turnout, due to the pre-vote purdah period that began on Thursday.