why now?
The UK has a new political landscape following the last election. The Deputy Prime Minister has declared that the Coalition’s Electoral Reform Bill will be the most significant since the 1832 Representation of the People Act.
Last year over 600,000 young people voted in UK Youth Parliament elections – proportionally far higher than the turnout for UK elections.
This generation of young people is perhaps more politically informed than any before it. 16 and 17 year olds can leave home, pay taxes, get married and join the armed forces but are unable to vote on decisions that affect them for at least a further two years, even though citizenship education means they are likely to have a good understanding of the power and value of voting. Some young people may have to wait until they are 21 to participate in a General Election.
If people come straight out of citizenship class into polling station then there’s a continuity and that might be an opportunity for them to get the habit of voting.
Daily Telegraph
Over 1.5 million 16 and 17 year olds are currently denied the vote in the United Kingdom. However, their peers can vote in the British Isles of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man.
“It may be that only a few 16 and 17 year olds will want to vote but if we can get even a small number engaged at this early state it could lead to a lifetime’s active interest in politics and even political activism as candidates,” Steve Rodan, Speaker, Isle of Man.
More about the campaign...