Election POLL: Should England follow Wales and reduce the voting age to 16? VOTE HERE
WALES has now allowed people aged 16 and 17 to legally vote in its national and council elections. Do you think the UK should follow their lead and reduce the voting age to 16?
Brexit: MPs will want to lower voting age says Ken Clarke
This poll is now closed. Please view the results here.
After the Senedd and Elections Act being passed earlier this year, the new voting age law came into effect on Monday, June 1. Around 65,000 16 and 17-year-olds will be able to cast their votes in next year’s elections in Wales, on May 6 2021. For the first time, they will be able to have an impact in choosing who will represent them in the next Assembly.
Related articles
The Electoral Reform Society has described this move as “a victory for young people”.
They said: “This is a victory for young people, following campaigning from ERS Cymru and a coalition of youth and civil society campaigners.
“The move in Wales means 16 and 17-year-olds will now rightly have a say over critical issues that affect their future, such as health, education and the economy.
"As we’ve already seen in Scotland, this is a boost for our democracy as a whole – strengthening citizenship and boosting political engagement.”
Regarding the lowering of the age in Wales, Elin Jones, a member of the Welsh Assembly said: “This was a vote to empower our young people to participate in the democratic process by extending the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds – a move which, for some, is long overdue.
"This Bill, in my view, will create a more inclusive, diverse and effective Senedd, and will strengthen our democracy for the twenty-first century."
In 2013, a YouGov poll showed that 60 per cent of adults in the UK are opposed to the idea of the voting age being reduced to 16.
When Theresa May was Prime Minister, she said: “I continue to think it’s right for it to be 18.
SEE MORE: Carol Vorderman tells co-host she's 'an expensive date'
“Of course we now expect young people to stay in educational training up until 18.”
The organisation ‘votes at 16’ is urging the government to change the voting age in England.
They have said: “Over 1.3 million 16 and 17-year-olds are currently denied the vote in the UK.
“For years we have wanted the opportunity to have our say.
DON'T MISS:
Donald Trump's savage swipe at Emmanuel Macron exposed [REVIEW]
China 'using distraction of coronavirus to further competing ideology' [VIDEO]
Macron fury: Why French President's aides fear he is 'own worst enemy' [COMMENT]
“Now the case for lowering the voting age is stronger than ever. “
A petition to give 17 and 18-year-olds the right to vote has more than 8,000 signatures in the UK.
Founder Maymunah Azad said: “Democracy is the basis of Britain. Being able to vote is something that is a privilege and allows the people of Britain to take a say in how their future is affected.
"Unfortunately, those whose futures hang most on the balance are unable to vote.
"Just like the EU referendum in which some people who voted may not even see the consequences of their decision, us as the younger generation weren't able to decide what happened to us."
