THE lowering of the voting age to 16 across the UK is “long overdue” and will get rid of “really unhelpful” discrepancies between elections, Scottish politicians have said.
SNP MP Pete Wishart said it can “only be a good thing” teenagers will get their voice heard at the ballot box, with the policy coming more than a decade after it was introduced in Scotland for the 2014 independence referendum.
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie added that having to tell young people they could vote in Scottish Parliament and council elections and not in General Elections was “really unhelpful” as he welcomed the change.
Democracy Minister Rushanara Ali confirmed the pledge would be part of a raft of measures introduced through a new Elections Bill.
Other changes include expanding forms of voter ID to include UK-issued bank cards, moving towards automatic voter registration and tightening rules on political donations to protect against foreign interference.
The minimum voting age is already 16 for local council elections in Scotland and Wales and elections to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd.
Lowering the voting age to 16 across the UK would be the biggest change to the electorate since it was reduced from 21 to 18 in 1969.
Wishart said: “We welcome this long-overdue change to the UK voting age, which comes more than a decade after the SNP lowered the voting age to 16 in Scotland – and follows years of campaigning by SNP MPs, activists and younger people.
“Regardless of how 16 and 17-year-olds vote at the next UK election, it can only be a good thing that they will finally have their voice heard."
A pledge to lower the voting age to 16 was included in Labour's election manifesto but it did not feature in last summer's King's Speech, which sets out the Government's priorities for the months ahead.
Ali confirmed the government was planning to introduce the change in time for 16 and 17-year-olds to vote at the next General Election, which is due to take place by 2029 but could be called earlier than this.
Patrick Harvie, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, said: “Scotland lowered the voting age to 16 over a decade ago, and it was an immediate and overwhelming success.
“Since then 16 and 17-year-olds have shown high levels of engagement and participation in Holyrood elections, council elections and a referendum.
“But having to tell young people they can vote in some elections and not others is really unhelpful, and it can undermine their willingness to engage.
“Expanding our democracy strengthens it and helps us build a society that better reflects what people want. This change will mean that young people in Scotland finally have the same rights as everyone else and help build their own future.”
Alba's sole MSP Ash Regan added: “Alex Salmond brought in votes for 16 and 17-year-olds to participate in Scotland’s independence referendum in 2014 – a significant decision for all of Scotland.
"The energy and engagement of that campaign lit a democratic fire across Scots of all ages, culminating in an unprecedented 84% of eligible voters casting a ballot.
"I am pleased we will now have consistency in the voting age for all elections in Scotland, even if it has taken Westminster over a decade to catch up."
While he welcomed the lowering of the voting age, LibDem MP Alistair Carmichael said he was disappointed the Government continued to reject a proportional electoral system.
"The last election was one of the most disproportionate in our history and that only fuels discontent and disappointment with the state of our country," he said.
"If ministers want to see renewal of our politics then they should start at the roots of the problem with electoral reform – so that every vote matters."
Among the other plans set out by the Government are expanding the list of accepted ID to vote in Great Britain to UK-issued bank cards, which display the voter's name.
Pressed over whether the security checks of digital banks were robust enough to allow bank cards to be used as a legitimate form of voter ID, Ali said: "We're going to make sure we take the time to introduce the appropriate changes, and that those changes are done gradually, to make sure that there aren't any risks of abuses or things going wrong."
The government said it would also work towards creating an automated voter registration scheme over the coming years, with safeguards so that people are aware of their registration status and can opt-out if they wish.
