The Votes at 16 Coalition is calling for 16 and 17 year olds to be able to vote in all UK public elections. Launched in 2003, the coalition is made up of over 40 leading youth and democracy organisations including the British Youth Council, Children’s Rights Alliance for England, Electoral Reform Society, The National Youth Agency and UK Youth Parliament.

Ben Rawlings, spokesperson for the Votes at 16 coalition, says:

“With issues like youth violence and youth services forming some of the top concerns in these elections, it is vital that we allow the majority of responsible and law abiding young people to have their say. Many 16 and 17 year olds also have strong and valid views on other areas such as transport and the environment. When there is a very real concern about low turnout, it can’t make sense to deny so many people the vote.”

Carolyne Willow, National Coordinator of the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, adds:

“16 and 17 year-olds can work and pay taxes, raise children, get married or have a civil partnership and even join the army. It is deeply patronising and unjust to continue to lock them out of the democratic process.”

There is growing concern about the low rate of participation in voting by young people yet 16 and 17 year olds are still not able to vote. The votes at 16 coalition believe that there has never been a better time to extend the right to participate in democracy to young people. In February 2008 the Government appointed Professor Jonathan Tonge as the new chair of the Youth Citizenship Commission to lead a consultation on lowering the vote age to 16. This summer Labour MP Julie Morgan will also be presenting a Private Members Bill to the House of Commons calling for the voting age to be 16 in all UK elections.