Britain The government on Thursday announced that the next national election will increase the age of 18 to 16 as part of measures to increase democratic participation.
Centers Workers The British Parliament was promised to reduce the age of voting for elections before it was selected in July 2024. Scotland and Wales already voted 16– and 17 years old children in local and regional elections.
Britain will join the small list of countries where the voting age is 16, with the choice of Austria, Brazil and Ecuador. A handful of European Union, including Belgium, Germany and Malta, allow 16 -year -old children to vote in elections European Parliament,
The step comes with comprehensive reforms that include tightening the campaign funds to prevent shell companies from donating to political parties. Democracy Minister Rushanara Ali said that change will strengthen security measures against foreign intervention in British politics.
There will also be difficult sentences for those guilty of scaring candidates.
Additionally, the government said that it would present automatic voter registration and allow voters to use bank cards as an identity at polling stations.
The previous conservative government introduced a requirement for voters to show photo identity in 2022, a measure said that the fraud would compete. Critics argued that it could dismiss millions of voters, especially young, poor and members of ethnic minorities.
In the elections, the Election Commission estimates that around 750,000 people did not vote in last year’s election as they were short of ID.
Voting in 2024 elections was 59.7%, the lowest level of more than two decades.
Harry Quilter-Pinner, Head of Left Tilt Think Tank Public policy research instituteSaid that the change was “the biggest improvement in our electoral system since 1969” when the age of voting was 21 to 18.
Changes should be approved by Parliament. The next national election should be up to 2029.
“For a very long time, public belief in our democracy has been damaged and confidence in our institutions has been allowed to decline,” Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rener Said. “We are taking action to break the obstacles for participation that will ensure that more people get an opportunity to engage in Britain’s democracy.”
Stuart Fox, a political lecturer at the University of Exeter, who has studied young voting, said that it is “clear from clear” whether reducing the age of voting really increases young engagement.
“It’s true to help the youth listen,” he said. “But there are other measures that are more effective to vote for young people – especially from the poorest background that is the least likely to vote – such as increasing citizenship course or expanding the provision of volunteering programs in schools.”
