UK to lower voting age to 16 in major electoral reform

The move, pursuing done connected a run pledge, volition springiness the UK 1 of the lowest nationalist voting ages successful the world.

The United Kingdom is to little its voting property successful wide elections from 18 to 16, giving the state 1 of the lowest voting ages successful the satellite successful what the authorities says is simply a bid to “modernise our democracy”.

The centre-left Labour authorities announced the plans connected Thursday, pursuing done connected a run pledge it made earlier coming to powerfulness past year. The determination is 1 of respective planned changes to voting rules successful a bid to amended antiauthoritarian information and region barriers to voting.

“I deliberation it’s truly important that 16- and 17-year-olds person the vote, due to the fact that they are aged capable to spell retired to work, they are aged capable to wage taxes, truthful [they] wage in,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.

“I deliberation if you wage in, you should person the accidental to accidental what you privation your wealth spent on, which mode the authorities should go,” Starmer added.

There are presently astir 1.6 cardinal 16- and 17-year-olds successful the UK.

National alignment

The change, which volition inactive necessitate the authorities to bring authorities earlier Parliament, wherever it has a comfy majority, volition align voting ages crossed the UK.

Currently, 16-year-olds successful Wales and Scotland tin ballot successful the devolved Welsh and Scottish parliaments, respectively, arsenic good arsenic successful section elections, but not successful the UK’s wide elections.

Globally, astir countries person a voting property of 18, though immoderate countries similar Austria, Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador let for voting successful nationalist elections astatine property 16.

Belgium, Germany and Malta let 16-year-olds to ballot successful elections to the European Parliament, but not their nationalist legislatures.

Bank cards for ID

Other planned changes see introducing automated elector registration and making UK-issued slope cards an accepted signifier of ID astatine polling stations.

The second alteration has been made successful effect to a request introduced by the erstwhile Conservative authorities for voters to amusement a photograph ID, which the Electoral Commission claimed had prevented astir 750,000 radical from voting successful the 2024 election.

Voter turnout successful that predetermination was 59.7 percent, the lowest level since 2001.

“For excessively long, nationalist spot successful our ideology has been damaged and religion successful our institutions has been allowed to decline,” Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said.

“We are taking enactment to interruption down barriers to information that volition guarantee much radical person the accidental to prosecute successful UK democracy.”

UK Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said the moves would assistance to reconstruct nationalist spot successful ideology [File: Leon Neal/Getty]

Mixed responses

The absorption Conservative Party criticised the changes to the voting age, with Paul Holmes, the party’s spokesperson connected assemblage issues, calling the argumentation “hopelessly confusing” astir the property of majority.

“Why does this Government deliberation a 16-year-old tin ballot but not beryllium allowed to bargain a lottery ticket, an alcoholic drink, marry, oregon spell to war, oregon adjacent basal successful the elections they’re voting in?” helium said successful the House of Commons, Press Association Media reported.

But others applauded the move.

Naomi Smith, main enforcement of civilian nine run radical Best for Britain, said the alteration was “a brave prime acceptable to payment generations to come”.

Harry Quilter-Pinner, enforcement manager of the Institute for Public Policy Research deliberation tank, said helium backed the move, the AFP quality bureau reported.

“Our ideology is successful crisis, and we hazard reaching a tipping constituent wherever authorities loses its legitimacy,” helium said.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies