Social networking and content generation site Facebook has been draughted in by the Electoral Commission to persuade the public to vote in the upcoming May 6 general election.

Encouraging people to register for their vote, the collaboration was announced today in the media. BBC news reports that Facebook users who frequent the site over the weekend, will be prompted to see if they have registered to vote. If they click on ‘no’, they will be redirected to the Electoral Commission site, allowing them to give their details online and complete the registration process by printing off a form, sending it to their local electoral office. The printed form allows regulation against electoral fraud.

Seeking to target the 18-25 audience, of which only 44 per cent are registered to vote, the campaign addresses the key user profile of Facebook. Webuser.co.uk also reports that the social networking site itself, is championing the general election by creating a Democracy UK page, giving key information about the political parties.

Voters will be allowed to register until 20 April and it is hoped this digital campaign, backed up with television advertising, will target the much needed younger demographic.

Clinton Proud, the Electoral Commission’s spokesman, was cited in BBC news as commenting that the organisation was attempting to increase voter remit, saying: ”If you’re not registered, you can’t vote – it’s very simple. By downloading and printing a form through Facebook, users can now make sure that they are able to have their say on election day.”

Meanwhile, director of policy at Facebook, Richard Allan, said that Facebook was a key tool in capturing the 18-25 audience. ”One of the strengths we have is to try and capture that group, who have often not turned out to vote and use the fact that many of the things on Facebook are familiar to them to get them engaged.”