Our interactive infographic allows policymakers, youth practitioners, and young people to experience the stages of young people’s voting journeys, read the information on the barriers young people in Wales had to overcome, and view recommendations on how young people can be supported in each stage of the voting journey. It is of particular relevance to young people aged 16 and 17 who are eligible to vote for the first time, and for policymakers and practitioners working to engage these young people as first-time voters.
The voting journey is a visual representation of the processes that young people who are first-time voters go through in the period leading up to an election. It has multiple steps, each of which must be completed for a person to cast their ballot, and ultimately to establish long-term habits of political engagement. Each step of the voting journey indicates a point where some people drop off the journey, with fewer and fewer young people making it to the final stage and establishing long term habits of political engagement.