The deadline to register to vote in the EU elections is today – it's crucial that young people make our voices heard

There is a changing tide in British politics. Brexit – whichever side of the debate you're on – has impassioned a whole generation of young people. Now is the time to take that passion to the ballot box

Every election is determined by those who show up. For me, this fact is all the more powerful because of what it means for my generation. Too often, young people do not show up, and our future's are decided by others.

It's because of this that I'm part of Vote For Your Future – an organisation that was set up just a couple of weeks ago, by young people of all political backgrounds. Young Brexiters and Remainers may not agree on much, but we can agree that this year's European Elections are some of the most important in a generation, if not ever. This is why we need to do everything we can to ensure young people are registered, informed and able to take part.

The Electoral Commission estimated several weeks ago that one third of 18-24 year old's were not registered to vote for the European Elections – while over 95 per cent of over 65's are.

There are lots of reasons for this – young people and students tend to be the most mobile of voters, moving house regularly, making it harder to ensure they're registered to a certain address. While the challenges of the introduction of Individual Voter Registration are still being felt several years on.

But mainly, there has almost certainly been a lack of engagement in politics because young people felt like they didn't have a stake in society. Politicians didn't speak to us, for us, nor about issues that matter to us. It is unsurprising that young people did not respond to elected leaders who often did not try to engage us.

Whilst this is true, as young people, we cannot justify our grievances at elected officials and government without first being vocal about our demands by participating in democratic processes when we have the opportunity to.

There is a changing tide in British politics. Brexit – whichever side of the debate you're on – has certainly impassioned a whole generation of young people.

It's therefore unsurprising that new polling commissioned by Vote For Your Future has shown that 34 per cent of young people are "certain" to vote in this month's European Elections, up from 26 per cent in 2014, whilst 80 per cent of respondents say they are now registered to vote.

We're doing all we can to get the word out before midnight tonight. If you're one of the millions of users of Bumble or Grindr, or a member of Student Room, you may have seen our notifications.

We're committed to working with partners – wherever they may be – to ensure that young people are registered, informed and and able to take part on 23 May. We have to: the Electoral Commission have already admitted that its spending for driving registration for the EU elections will be "at a lower level than we would normally spend for a similar national poll." While other major social media companies are doing far less than they should be for such an important poll.

So to anyone and everyone – no matter your politics – I urge you to go to gov.uk/register-to-vote before midnight and make sure you're registered to vote.

For young people, please make sure that this election is determined by those who show up, not those who don't.

Bella Frimpong is part of Vote For Your Future, a cross party youth voter registration campaign.