Votes at 16

The Votes at 16 campaign is a movement organised in the United Kingdom which argues in favour of the reduction of the voting age to 16 for all public elections. The chancellor of the exchequer Gordon Brown has expressed his support for the cause, and has committed himself to lowering the voting age to 16. The voting age on the Isle of Man has been lowered to 16.

Votes at 16 has vast support from an umbrella organisation called the Votes at 16 coalition, and for more information see the second external link below.

The votes at 16 has been a campaign for the UK Youth Parliament since its founding. To date, councils in Leeds, Hastings, Islington, Cambridge, Eastbourne & Kent have passed motions in support of lowering the voting age to 16.

Principles in favour of lowering the voting age

1. Seamless transition from education to entitlement

Citizenship education is now a compulsory part of the national curriculum in England at key stages 3 and 4 (from the age of eleven to sixteen) and it is an optional part of the curriculum for key stages 1 and 2 (from the age of five to eleven).

In basic terms, at key stages one and two, young people learn about the concept of elections and democracy. In key stage three, they learn about the importance of voting, how elections work and different electoral systems. In key stage four they learn about pressure groups, ways they can get involved and debate topical political issues.

A consultation on introducing a programme of citizenship education in schools is underway at the moment in Scotland and a programme of citizenship education is being developed in Northern Ireland. In Wales, citizenship education is not a compulsory part of the national curriculum, but is taught as part of Personal and Social Education. The Assembly will make PSE statutory from the age of 14.

Thus young people reaching the age of 16 will have a great deal of knowledge of how the British political system works, perhaps a better knowledge than most people who are older. Yet they are denied the right to use this knowledge for at least two further years.

Lowering the voting age to 16 would allow a seamless transition from learning about voting, elections and democracy to putting such knowledge into practice.

2. The Information Age

The advent of the internet, together with an expansion of the number of television channels has led to a huge increase in the amount of information available to people of all ages, but to young people in particular. Such information covers many topics, but many young people are far more news aware than might have been the case previously and have information sources specifically tailored to their needs.

Certainly, the age at which young people are developing a range of political and issue viewpoints is getting younger and it is right that this should be reflected in the age at which they should become entitled to vote in elections.

3. Equality of expression

Not letting 16 and 17 year olds express their political views through the ballot box gives the impression to young people and to the rest of society that young people’s views are either not valid, or not as valid as the views of older citizens. This implies that young people are not real citizens.

In turn, this contributes to the disconnection that many young people feel from the political process and structures.

There are 81 current members of the House of Commons who benefited directly from the last lowering of the voting age in 1970. These include the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Simon Hughes and former Conservative Trade and Industry Secretary John Redwood. Who is to say that the next crop of leading politicians are not being turned off such a career path by their inability to have their say.

4. Disconnection from Politics

There is a commonly held view that, whilst young people may not have a very great interest in voting or elections, they may drift into it later in life. The decline in turnout in recent years would suggest that this is not the case, that those who choose not to vote when they are young may never vote, even in general elections.

Lowering the voting age would help to stem the tide of disillusionment among young people with regard to voting.

5. Consistency

There is a great inconsistency about the age at which a person gains various civil rights. Before a person can vote, at the age of 18, they can:

• leave school (16);
• take up full time employment (16);
• get married (16);
• leave home(16);
• claim some benefits if they need them (16);
• join the armed forces (16);
• learn to drive a car (17).

And, or course, a person under the age of 18 must pay taxes on their income.

6. The birthday lottery

New polling, undertaken by the Social Market Foundation and published in the New Statesman, shows a link between the age at which people are finally able to vote in a general election and their inclination to use that vote thereafter.

People who turn 18 in the year leading up to a general election are significantly more likely to bother to vote than those who turned 18 in the year after the previous general election and have therefore had to wait up to 5 years.

A turnout of only 49% was recorded in the 2001 election amongst the then 27 year olds. These same people were 17 in 1992 and therefore had to wait until 1997 when they could finally vote in a general election at the age of 23. Amongst those who had just turned 18 in 1992, 65% bothered to vote in 2001. This ‘birth effect’ cannot be put down to a mysterious accident in 1992 as similar findings hold for last year’s election. In 2001 the oldest first-time voters at 22 had a turnout 14% lower than those voting within a year of turning 18.

Those who vote young vote often and so lowering the voting age to 16, whilst it cannot erase the lottery of birthdays, will ensure that everyone can participate in a general election by the time they turn 21.

Other matters

International Comparisons

It is true to say that the most common voting age around the world is 18. However, different ages abound and some countries have different ages for different types of election.

A number of countries use the age of 16, including Brazil, Nicaragua, Cuba and Bosnia Herzegovina. Indonesia has a voting age of 17.

Europe

At the start of 2007 the Austrian Government announced that it will lower the age to 16 for voting at the federal level, this is after a number of years of 16 year olds being able to vote in some states in Austria.

Recently, a number of Lander (regions) in Germany have reduced their voting age for municipal (council) elections to 16. In elections in Hanover, turnout among 16 and 17 year olds was in fact higher than among those aged 18-35. (International IDEA Forum 1999, as quoted in Electoral Commission report ‘Voter engagement and young people’.)

The European Youth Forum has campaigns led by member national youth councils to lower the voting age to 16, the Danish national youth council leads on much of this work at a national and European wide level.

Scotland, Wales and local councils Both Scotland and Wales have recently seen separate independent inquiries into renewing local democracy. These were principally concerned with the voting system used to elect local councillors, the size of councils etc. However, both felt sufficiently strongly on the issue of the voting age to mention it in their report, despite it being outside their remit.

In Scotland, the Report of the Renewing Local Democracy Working Group recommended a wider debate on the lowering of the voting age to 16 for local council elections. They said:

‘The franchise for local government elections was not a matter that we were asked to consider. However, in looking at stimulating interest in council membership we were struck by the importance of civic education and the role that it should play in the school curriculum.’ (para 45)

‘ It is perhaps anachronistic that while 16 year olds are considered to be adult members of the community for almost all purposes, for example, employment, tax, marriage and criminal law, they are no eligible to play an active part in local democracy – either as a councillor or as a voter. We would encourage public debate on whether both the age limit for standing for election and the age limit for voting should be reduced to 16 years.' (para 46)

And more recently, Parliament’s Communities and Local Government Committee has come out in favour of lowering the voting age to 16.

In Wales, the Commission on Local Government Electoral Arrangements (commonly known as the Sunderland Commission) went further and said:

“We recommend that the age of entitlement to vote in local government elections should be reduced to 16 years. We realise that a consequence of this, as the law stands, would be that such young people could also vote in elections to the National Assembly for Wales, and we would be content with such a conclusion.” (para 4.20)

Since that report was published, the Assembly’s Local Government Minister, Edwina Hart AM, has held a public consultation on the report and this proposal received widespread support. The Assembly’s Local Government Committee has also backed the lowering of the voting age to 16.

External links

• Votes at 16
• Votes at 16 Myspace
• UK Youth Parliament
• British Youth Council