Poor election turnouts - especially among younger voters - has politicians worried.

The Votes Are Power autumn campaign is the latest stage in our ongoing drive to increase public participation in democratic processes

Electoral Commission spokesman

Now the Electoral Commission has launched a campaign called "Votes Are Power" in the hope of persuading greater voter registration among the young.

To coincide with the annual push to get people on the electoral register, a new cinema advert is set to be launched nationally this autumn.

Youth target

The commercial - entitled "Unstoppable" - features a range of special effects, 3D animation, and, we are told, a "pumping soundtrack" and is directed by 24-year-old Mattias Hoene.

In the film, a young man sprints across a dark landscape clutching a ballot paper marked with a cross.

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

Just 39% of young people voted in the 2001 general election.

Not registered

More than one in four of those young people who did not vote had not even registered.

The advert is timed to coincide with the annual canvass - when the electoral register is updated - and is aimed primarily at increasing registration amongst 18-24 year olds.

A spokesman for the Electoral Commission said: "The Votes Are Power autumn campaign is the latest stage in our ongoing drive to increase public participation in democratic processes.

"It will include elements specifically targeting young people and members of black and minority ethnic communities, two groups that have significantly lower than average registration and voting rates."