Votes are power poster

The Electoral Commission has launched a "hard-hitting, impactful" cinema advertising campaign targeting young voters.

The latest move in the watchdog's "votes are power" drive is aimed at luring young people into polling booths.

The campaign is timed to coincide with the annual canvass for electoral registration this autumn.

Just 39 per cent of young people voted in the 2001 general election and more than one in four of the "apathy party" were not registered to vote.

"Young people have strong feelings about so many issues yet they often feel that politics and politicians are not relevant to them," said the watchdog's chairman, Sam Younger.

"This film is all about persuading young people that their votes can make a difference and that politics is not something which exists outside of their influence."

The advert hits cinema screens on Friday 13 and is titled "Unstoppable".

"The cinema advert features a young man who sprints through a dark, gritty landscape clutching a ballot paper marked with a cross," says the commission.

"His vote gives him the power to effect change over the structures he comes across, from a bulldozer to a wind farm and giant tower block."

The film is an "underground" mixture of live action and computer generated images by 24-year old award winning director, Matthias Hoene.

"I wanted the audience to feel a bit uneasy and for them to really take notice of a subject which some people view as boring," said Hoene.

The Commission will also be drawing the electorate's attention to a change in the electoral registration process.

The public can now "opt out" of having their name and address made available to commercial companies on the electoral roll.

"This is the first time that the public have been given this option and many may not even be aware that the electoral register had been used for commercial purposes," said the commission.