Lowering the voting age to 16 was a key campaign promise of the Labour Party, which won last year’s general election in a landslide.Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters
The British government has announced plans to lower the voting age to 16 from 18 as part of a series of electoral reforms that would make Britain one of the only countries in the world where people that young can cast ballots in national elections.
The proposed change, announced on Thursday, is expected to take effect before the next general election, which must be held by the summer of 2029. It would bring the entire country in line with Scotland and Wales, where 16-year-olds are already allowed to vote in local parliamentary and council elections.
“I think it’s really important that 16- and 17-year-olds have the vote, because they are old enough to go out to work. They are old enough to pay taxes, so pay in,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters. “And I think if you pay in, you should have the opportunity to say what you want your money spent on, which way the government should go.”
Only a handful of countries permit citizens as young as 16 to vote in national elections. They include Austria, Brazil, Argentina, Malta, Cuba and Nicaragua. Germany and Belgium allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in elections to the European Parliament, and several countries permit voters that age to participate in municipal, state or regional elections.
There have been unsuccessful attempts in Canada to lower the voting age, and Senator Marilou McPhedran has introduced several bills in that chamber to give 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in federal elections.
The British announcement “is definitely great news,” said Sarah Morra, who is co-chair of Vote 16 Canada, a national organization that has been campaigning to lower the voting age. “It’s just yet another country setting a precedent for others to follow.”
She added that countries such as Austria and Germany have demonstrated that allowing younger people to vote increases engagement and democratic participation.
“There have been so many different conflicting arguments over the years about why 16- and 17-year-olds shouldn’t vote. But there’s just overwhelming evidence on why they should and why they are ready to vote,” she added.
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A British government strategy paper said the reforms, which still need to be put into law, would also expand voter registration so that children as young as 14 could get on the voters’ list in time for their 16th birthday. However, the minimum age for someone to run as a candidate would remain at 18.
Britain’s governing Labour Party has long been in favour of lowering the voting age. Labour won last year’s general election in a landslide, and dropping the voting age to 16 was a key campaign promise. The reform would add up to 1.5 million voters to the electoral roll, just under 3 per cent of the total population aged 16 and over.
While Labour has traditionally drawn strong support from younger voters, the party’s popularity has plummeted since the election, and it’s uncertain who 16- and 17-year-olds would support. Recent polls have put Labour and the populist Reform UK on top among 18- to 24-year-olds, and some surveys point to a shift in support toward Reform among young men.
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Critics accused Labour of blatantly trying to improve its electoral chances.
“It’s an attempt to rig the political system,” Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage told ITV. “I don’t think you should be able to vote in an election unless you’re also eligible to be a candidate, and I don’t think 16-year-olds should stand for Parliament.”
Conservative MP Paul Holmes called the measure confusing. “Why does this government think a 16-year-old can vote but not be allowed to buy a lottery ticket or an alcoholic drink, marry or go to war, or even stand in the elections they’re voting in?” he said in the House of Commons.
Democracy Minister Rushanara Ali denied the change was politically motivated.
“The truth is young people deserve to have a stake and to have a say in the future of our democracy. Young people can vote for any party they like, and it speaks volumes that [critics] would prefer for them to be silenced,” Ms. Ali told the Commons.
It’s not clear how much public support there is for the change.
A poll of 500 16- and 17-year-olds released on Thursday by ITV found that 51 per cent supported the proposal and 49 per cent did not.
A survey of more than 1,000 voters conducted by the think tank More in Common just before last year’s election showed that 47 per cent did not support Labour’s campaign pledge and 28 per cent supported it.
Young residents of London welcomed the news announced by the British government on Thursday that it planned to give 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all U.K. elections.
Reuters
Bosco Williams-Eley, a 16-year-old student in Norfolk, said he was surprised by the government’s announcement. “I just thought it was one of those things they wouldn’t really change,” he said.
He’ll probably vote, but he wasn’t sure that many of his friends were keen. “I don’t know how many 16-year-olds would vote. I don’t know how many of them would take it seriously or just go for a laugh.”
Research in Scotland and Austria has found that 16- and 17-year-olds were more likely to vote than those aged 18 to 21. That’s largely because they still live at home, whereas those in the older age group tend to move out for work or school. They can be changing addresses multiple times, which makes them less likely to register to vote.
Studies in Germany have also shown that once 16-year-olds vote, they tend to continue participating in elections well into their 20s.
The British government also plans to tighten the rules around political donations to avoid foreign interference. And it wants to make it easier for people to register to vote by sharing data from government services such as the passport office and motor vehicle licensing.