Snap Inc partners with the AEC to educate younger voters ahead of the 2023 referendum

Snap Inc. has announced its call to encourage young Australians to vote in the upcoming referendum, announcing a new partnership with the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).

The referendum campaign is now live on Snapchat and includes immersive in-app experiences to learn more and encourage its community to share with friends and family. Using the power of augmented reality, an educational AR Lens will give Snapchatters the chance to test their knowledge about referendums.

The AR Lens invites all Australians to interact with a quiz-style experience where they are asked a series of questions about referendums. Snapchatters can nod their head left or right to answer the questions, and pending their answer, they’ll be given a customised message from the AEC explaining what they need to know.

Australian Snapchatters will have the opportunity to swipe up directly from the Lens and head to the AEC website to learn more. The Lens is also designed to be shared with friends to encourage their Snapchat connections to participate and learn more about how their answer matters on voting day.

Additionally, there will be a mass Snap message going out to all Australian Snapchatters on voting day, encouraging everyone to get down to the polling booths and share with their friends and family, once they’ve voted.

Tony Keusgen, Snap managing director ANZ says, “Millions of young Australians use Snapchat every day, none of whom would ever have taken part in a referendum before. Snapchat is about connecting and communicating with people you know in real life, and this campaign is designed to be shared with your mates on the platform. Alongside the AEC, we want to spark conversations with friends and family ensuring every answer matters."

Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) spokesperson Evan Ekin-Smyth commented on the partnership, “Working with Snapchat is the perfect partnership to engage with young Australians, who are new to voting in a referendum, in a fun and creative way. Together with Snap we’re looking forward to making voting in the referendum easy to understand and follow, encouraging everyone to participate.”