The Government is planning on lowering the voting age to 16, but do you think young people should be allowed to vote in general elections? The Elections Bill will be the first change to the voting age since it was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1969, and will bring in 1.5 million new voters. Sixteen-year-olds can already vote in local council elections in Scotland and Wales as well as elections to the Welsh and Scottish Parliaments.
Democracy Minister Rushanara Ali told the BBC that the change will be “seismic”, adding: “At 16, a young person can work, they pay taxes, they can join the Army. So there’s no reason why from that age, they shouldn’t have a say in who governs our country.” So what do you think? Vote in our poll and join the debate in the comments section. Can’t see the poll below? Click here
The Prime Minister told ITV News: “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.
“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.”
If passed, the new Elections Bill will introduce a wide range of new voting measures. In addition to lowering the voting age, the bill will expand voting ID to include UK bank cards.
According to the Electoral Commission, around 4% of those who didn’t vote in the last election said that they were prevented from doing so because new rules meant they required an ID to vote.
The bill also includes a move towards automatic voter registration, with nearly eight million people incorrectly registered or missing from the electoral register, and tighter rules on donations.
Currently, parties can only accept donations from UK voters and UK companies. However, there are concerns that foreign nationals can circumvent these rules to interfere with elections.
