Scottish Conservatives back lowering voting

Age across the UK to 16

The voting age in Scotland means 16 and 17-year-olds are again allowed to vote in the upcoming Scottish Parliament elections.

Anyone aged 16 or 17, with a Scottish address, is allowed to vote in Scottish-only elections, including the election in May, as well as in local council elections.

This has been the case since the voting age was lowered in 2013, in time for the independence referendum of 2014.

In the 2014 referendum more than 100,000 young people aged 16 or 17 cast their vote.

This decreased slightly during the 2016 Scottish Parliament elections with approximately 80,000 16 and 17-year-olds registering to vote, according to the Electoral Commission.

The Isle of Man became the first place in Europe to have a voting age of 16, in 2006, before Guernsey followed in its steps in 2007. Austria was next, in 2011, before Scotland did the same two years later.

Greece’s minimum voting age is 17, although no other European countries have a minimum voting age of less than 18.

However, while 16 and 17-year-olds can vote in Scottish-only elections, the UK Government have rejected the opportunity to allow anyone younger than 18 to vote in UKwide elections.

UK opposition parties such as the SNP, Labour, Liberal Democrats and the Greens are in favour of reducing the age in UK-wide elections, but former Prime Minister Theresa May ruled out the change in the run-up to the 2017 UK election.

However, Cameron Findlay, chairman of the Scottish Young Conservatives (SYC), says the Scottish Conservatives are in agreement with opposition parties on reducing the voting age.

“During the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, a generation of younger voters were politically inspired, and research suggests that 75% of 16 and 17-year-olds used their right to vote,” he said.

The SYC chairman said that he, and his party, believe that 16 should be the voting age for UKwide elections.

Mr Findlay added: “These voters are the future of our country and our communities, and we strive to ensure their voices are fully heard.”

The youth wing of the SNP, Young Scots for Independence (YSI), is in agreement with the Conservatives.

Chloe Henderson, a youth officer in the YSI, said: “At the age of 16 people can start their own families and live legally by themselves.

“If they are trusted to do this then surely they should be trusted to have a say in democracy, on who represents them.”

“These voters are the future of our country and our communities

The voting age was lowered in Scotland in 2013.