By Eoin, 17
This morning the government has stated the voting age will be lowered to 16 before the next General Election, doubling down on commitments it announced during last year’s election which will bring in one and a half million eligible voters.
This is a policy that has been in place in Scottish local and national elections since 2015, one year after Scotland allowed 16 and 17 year olds to take place in the Scottish independence referendum in 2014.
Wales followed on and also extended the franchise in 2020 with the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020.
While lowering the voting age may seem like something new, this would not be the first time the age requirement for voting was lowered in the UK.
The representation of the people act 1969 brought down the voting age from 21 to 18.
People could go to war at 18, yet not vote in the government that started the war. At that time, education was only required until you were 16, which is five years of working and paying tax as a school leaver without the ability to vote.
When discussing votes at 16 some teenagers were already registered to vote.
“Yes. I am already on the electoral register, and have been involved in activism for the majority of my life. I eagerly await my 18th birthday and to get my voting rights so I can have some manner of representation in my country,” says Nelson, 17.
Some agreed that there should be a limit on the voting age. “I wholeheartedly support lowering the voting age to 16 and am disappointed it hasn’t been done already,” says Nelson.
Some were slightly more skeptical: “I think it’s a good idea to give young people a voice, but I also agree that some people need to have more maturity and may not give the appropriate result,” say Bea and Fran, both 17.
There was also a sense of uncertainty for some young people as to whether they had the proper knowledge to be able to vote at 16. “It can be complicated registering to vote at our age if we were able to,” says Will, 16.
A politician’s key to power is gaining their seat. The only way for a politician to gain their seat is to carry out what their constituents want. By including 16 and 17 year olds, the politicians’ interests are then better aligned with the youth.
Young people also are more up to date with modern society. When new laws are proposed, they will have the future’s interest in mind, so giving the younger generation the vote, it will be of more use to society.
This story was written by young people as part of the Headliners Young Journalist programme. This project was made possible by the Million Hours Fund.
