A new report for social care providers explores supporting clients to vote in the upcoming General Election.

Over 400,000 older and disabled people live in residential care in England and nearly 372,000 people received community-based care and support at home in 2013/14, yet it is likely that they are one of the most significantly unregistered sections of our society.

In response to these fears, social care charity Jewish Care has produced a guide for its staff which it is sharing across the sector. The guide, General Election 2017: A Voice for Social Care Clients, provides practical information to enable frontline care staff to support clients with voter registration and voting. It also addresses important questions about people living with dementia and their right to vote, how decisions should be made about an individual’s capacity to vote and if having power of attorney extends to voting.

Simon Morris, Chief Executive of Jewish Care commented, 'Whilst providing quality care is of utmost importance to us, we also believe that we have a role to play to ensure our clients, residents in our care homes, people we support in their own homes, feel a valued part of our community and wider society. Their voice and right to engage shouldn’t be lost just because they require support.

'There are some fantastic campaigns that focus on engaging younger or socially-excluded people in the electoral process. An impressive collection of research, reports and statistics about engagement initiatives and next to nothing about a significant group of people – older people living in residential care homes or those in receipt of homecare support.'

Jewish Care has concerns that numbers of care home residents who are registered to vote have dropped dramatically since the introduction of Individual Electoral Registration in 2014. Prior to this, a registered care home manager could complete one voter registration form for all residents in the home.

In the 2015 General Election, 78% of over 65-year olds had their say compared to only 43% of 18 to 24 year olds. What these figures, or any other published figures, omit to tell is that once those older people need support to register to vote their voice is forgotten.