Electoral Commission proposes votes for 16-year-olds

Monday, 19 April 2004 12:00 AM

The Electoral Commission is publishing a report today on lowering the voting age from 18 to 16.

Ministers are calling for the voting age to be lowered in order to tackle the growing problem of voter apathy in the UK.

The Electoral Commission has conducted a year-long investigation into voter apathy and its report, which will form part of a public discussion on the subject, will recommend that the voting age is reduced to 16.

However, the Conservative Party is opposing the move to lower the legal voting age and a recent poll found that 56 per cent of all MPs were against the proposals.

"Lowering the voting age will do nothing to address the underlying causes of apathy and voting apathy among young people - it would just serve to lower the average level of turnout," said Charles Hendry, the shadow minister for young people.

On the Labour benches, 50 per cent oppose reducing the voting age to 16, the survey by CommunicateResearch found, while 43 per cent support such a move and eight per cent back a reduction to 17.

The Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Nationalist Party have both voiced support for lowering the legal age of voting.

In the last General Election, just 59 per cent of those eligible voted, while recent local and European elections have only attracted around 25-30 per cent of voters. Turnout was the lowest of any age group among 18 to 21-year-olds at the last general election at 39 per cent.

Supporters of lowering the voting age claim that the younger people are able to vote, the more likely they are to become more politically aware. But research has shown that 16 and 17-year-olds feel no less or no more inclined to vote than their 18-24 counterparts and lowering the voting age is not a guarantee of improving election turnout.

The Electoral Commission report is also expected to recommend reducing the limit for prospective MPs from 21 to 18 and the government is believed to be considering the proposals for its general election manifesto. In the Commons poll half of all MPs backed reducing the age at which candidates can stand for Parliament.

Tags: