‘Votes at 16 is not just about the next election, but the next 10, 20, 30 elections,’ writes the chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society Darren Hughes
The government’s announcement yesterday that it will be lowering the voting age across the UK to 16 was a good day for our democracy.
Firstly, it will rectify a gross unfairness that has crept into our nation over the last decade.
Sixteen and 17-year-olds have been able to vote in Scotland and Wales since 2014 and 2021 respectively, yet their counterparts in England and Northern Ireland are barred purely on account of where they happen to live. This is an absurd situation and an inequality that needs addressing.
Votes at 16 will also have wider benefits for our democracy. Extending votes to an age when many young people are still at school means that they can be supported with impartial civic education about how our democracy works and their place in it as they prepare to vote for the first time.
That first vote is crucial as we know that it is habit-forming and can ensure people are casting their vote for decades to come. Today’s 16-year-olds are tomorrow’s 30-year-olds, and academic studies show that younger first-first time voters have greater participation in elections than the next generation up.
We have also seen support for votes at 16 grow where it has been implemented. In Scotland support has doubled from around a third to 60% in favour since it was brought in over a decade ago.
Meanwhile, the debate around votes at 16 has often focused on who they could vote for, and which parties could benefit.
Academic studies suggest that adding the 1.5m 16 and 17-year-olds to the electoral rolls would have a ‘negligible’ impact on the outcome of any election. That said, how you vote has nothing to do with whether you should be allowed to vote. This is not a condition we apply to any other age group.
Expanding the franchise to 16-year-olds also generates a lot of discussion around whether they are mature enough to vote. Many of the things they are prohibited from doing, such as drinking and smoking, are public health concerns aimed at preventing young people forming unhealthy habits. Voting is one healthy habit we want young people to form.
Our democracy is a precious and hard-won inheritance handed down to us by the generations that came before. Votes at 16 is not just about the next election, but the next 10, 20, 30 elections, and ensuring we hand down a healthier democracy to the next generation than the one we inherited.
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