16 year olds could soon get the vote

EXTENDING the vote to 16 and 17 year olds, electronic voting and proportional representation are just some of the proposals announced today as part of a major shake-up of council elections in Wales.

The proposals, which form part of a 12 week consultation on electoral reform, are designed to make it easier to vote and easier to be entitled to vote. If enacted, they would amount to the biggest change to the Welsh electoral system since 1970 – when the voting age was lowered to 18.

Under proposals set out in the consultation, 16 and 17 year olds in Wales would be given the right to vote in council elections – under powers transferred to the National Assembly for Wales under the Wales Act.

The consultation also looks ahead to when the UK is due to leave the EU in 2019 and asks whether all foreign citizens normally resident in Wales should have the right to vote in local elections.

Different options to make it easier for people to vote and modernising the voting system are also laid out in the consultation. These include electronic voting at polling stations and remotely, mobile polling stations and voting at places other than polling stations such as supermarkets, local libraries, leisure centres and railway stations.

The consultation also asks whether voting could take place on other days of the week rather than just Thursdays.

Changes would also be made to the voting system itself, with each council being given the option of using a FirstPast-the-Post or Single Transferable Vote system. Councils would have to consult with local residents before deciding which system to use.

Following on from a White Paper earlier this year, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government Mark Drakeford has also announced details of a Local Government Bill that would see mandatory regional working between Wales’ 22 councils on areas such as economic development, strategic land use planning and strategic transport.

These services will all be undertaken in three large regions: North Wales, Central and South West Wales and South East Wales. There will be scope for subregional working as part of these larger groupings.

Councils would also be required to work regionally on other services like education improvement, social services, additional learning needs and other aspects of land-use planning but have more flexibility on the footprint in which they work together.

Certain specific functions would have to be undertaken regionally, for example, social services being aligned with the local health board boundaries.

Joint Governance Committees, comprising elected members of each constituent local authority, would be set up for each of the three regional areas and would oversee the services.

As part of a new, more transparent relationship between people and their councils, it will also become mandatory for local authorities to broadcast their meetings.

In addition to the above there will also be a root and branch review of town and community councils.