Jonathan Pyke (ERS): With the big political guns trained for by-election battle on the well heeled streets of Henley, numbers at the 2nd reading of the Voting age (Reduction) Bill last Friday were somewhat thin. But enough MPs were present to confirm that Voting at 16 is an issue that has gained successively more and more support since 2002. One rather terse representative of the people, in a rather peevish turn, requested that that Bill might be an opportunity to resolve the issue once and for all. All the evidence suggests that he is going to be disappointed; the government is now examining the issue, and further opportunities to fully discuss the merits of lowering the voting age, like hardy perennials, will continue to spring up.
Maturity seems to be the crux of the matter. Are 16 and 17 year olds simply mature enough to take on the giddy responsibility of voting, with all the power their ‘x’ in the box signifies? Will they instead vote en masse for the monster raving loony party? Or perhaps fail to appreciate the cost to the public of education, and place wholesale pressure on the government to bring back student grants?
However there is growing recognition that young people’s reasons for supporting a lower voting age are cogent and valid. Support for Votes at 16 is only one of a range of issues concerning young people, which largely reflect those of adults. There is a definite trend towards disengagement with formal politics, and a feeling that single-issue campaigns have a greater chance of making supporters voices heard. But these tend to be on global issues such as climate change, human rights, and trade fairness; ask any group of young people what concerns them and they will list these examples, as will many groups of older voters. Dig a little deeper and they are concerned with the cost of public transport, health, safety.
Young people are motivated by the same concerns as adults, but this depends on the ability of the political system to engage with them. At 16, having been taught about the democratic process and at an age when they are first fired up by the prospect of changing society, we should do all we can to accommodate them. All too often the pressures of university and moving into the workplace de-prioritise politics, and they switch off voting, usually permanently.
As a high-flying campaigner in the heady world of constitutional reform, I’m no stranger to campaigning on issues that progress marginally more swiftly than a rheumatic sloth. But in this case, it’s clear to see genuine developments. Earlier in the year the Welsh Assembly voted almost unanimously in favour of lowering the voting age, and there is a majority of support in the Scottish Parliament. More and more organisations are joining the coalition, and as the Youth Citizenship Commission prepares to examine the case for lowering the voting age, it’s clear that the debate is entering a new and even more exciting phase.
