21 February 2019
The voting age should be reduced to 16. The reason is not simply to give voice to those aged between 16-18, it would be beneficial to our democracy as a whole and beneficial to all British citizens. The key to the success of any democracy is political diversity; without this the system fails. Differences in opinions prevent undue political dominance by one group.
Health is a cornerstone of our government, most of those who use the National Health Service get to choose how it works through voting. Meanwhile on education, all of those below the age of 18 do not get to decide on what kind of provision they get.
Sceptics might argue that young people lack sufficient intelligence to vote, but on the same line of reasoning it could be posed that we introduce IQ tests as a requisite to voting. Anyone in favour? Of course not. IQ tests are a ridiculous idea. Just as ridiculous is the arbitrariness of having the voting age set to 18.
‘Intelligence’ was also the reason which prevented women from having the right to vote 100 years ago. Both left and right reflect on the era before women had the right to vote as one of greater inequality. Likewise votes for 16-18 year olds transcends political ideology, in fact a society in which 16-18 year olds had voting rights would be a more just, fairer society.
