Campaign urges teenagers to sign up for Holyrood 2016 ballot
ELECTIONS watchdogs have launched a campaign in an attempt to ensure 15-to-17-year-olds sign up to vote in next year’s Holyrood ballot.
The voting age in Scotland has been lowered from 18, allowing 16 and 17-yearolds to have a say.
It comes after this age group was given the vote for the first time in the independence referendum last year. Almost 110,000 16- and 17-year-olds in Scotland registered to vote at the referendum, with 75 per cent reporting that they took part in the ballot.
Of those 16 and 17-yearolds who voted in the referendum, 97 per cent said they would vote again in future elections and referendums.
The Electoral Commission, together with Electoral Registration Officers across the country, has now launched a new campaign aimed at encouraging 15 to-17-year-olds who will be eligible to vote in next May’s Scottish Parliament elections to ensure they are registered.
The drive will include targeted adverts on social media as well as radio advertising in a bid to boost awareness of the lower voting age.
Andy O’Neill, head of the Electoral Commission in Scotland, said: “At the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, we saw that young people are politically engaged and that they want to vote.
“But to be able to take part in next year’s important election, you must be registered. It’s easy to apply to register online now at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote in just a few minutes.”
He added: “The lowering of the voting age also means that 15-year-olds can appear on the register so that they are ready to vote when they turn 16.”