Electoral Reform Society calls for lowering voting age
Charlotte Goddard
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
The Electoral Reform Society has called for the voting age to be lowered to 16 but more than half of young people think it should remain at 18.
Campaigning organisation the Electoral Reform Society told the Youth Citizenship Commission's consultation on the voting age, which closed today, that lowering the voting age would be the next logical step in promoting citizenship among young people.
Ken Ritchie, chief executive of the organisation, said: "Lowering the voting age to 16 would reflect and support citizenship education and youth participation programmes, linking the formal democratic process to their understanding of citizenship."
But youth volunteering charity v told the commission that 51 per cent of the young people it surveyed wanted the voting age to stay at 18 because they felt 16-year-olds did not know enough about politics to make informed decisions.
Terry Ryall, chief executive of v, said: "Our survey sends a message to Parliament that the way to motivate young people is not by lowering the voting age but by making politicians and policies more relevant to their lives and to engage them through the communications channels that they use."
