CRAE is at the forefront of the campaign to lower the voting age to 16 in all UK public elections. We believe that the continued denial of this basic civil and political right to 16 and 17 year-olds is unfair and unnecessary.

The right to participate in elections by universal and equal suffrage without distinction of any kind is protected by international law. Any restriction on the right to vote should meet international legal requirements based upon objective and reasonable criteria and constitute a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim. We believe that the exclusion of 16 and 17 year-olds from voting in the UK does not meet these requirements.

At 16, young people pay taxes, leave home, get married, join the armed forces, and make lots of decisions about their future. However, they are denied the basic rights of citizens of a say in how the country is run, how their taxes are spent and who sends them to war. Lowering the voting age would send a clear and positive message to young people that their views count. It would provide a seamless transition from compulsory Citizenship Education to the opportunity to vote, avoiding what can be for some a seven year gap between their formal education about voting and their first national election.

Thousands of young people have expressed their support for Votes at 16. The majority consistently favour lowering the voting age and highlight this as one means of demonstrating that politicians and decision-makers care about their views.

The campaign for Votes at 16
In July 2007 Gordon Brown announced the creation of a Youth Citizenship Commission. Launched in 2008, the Commission was tasked with leading a consultation with young people on whether the voting age should be lowered to 16. The majority of respondents to the consultation favoured doing so. The final report of the Commission was published in 2009.

You can read our submission to the Commission here.

CRAE's work
Children's human rights activists have consistently challenged conventional perceptions of young people's abilities and advocated their right to participate in democratic decision-making:

• The Children's Legal Centre called for Votes at 16 in its Children's Manifesto, published in the run up to the 1985 General Election.
• In 2000, CRAE published the landmark pamphlet ‘The REAL Democratic Deficit - why 16 and 17 year-olds should be allowed to vote'. You can download this in our publications section.
• In 2003 we were the founding member of the Votes at 16 Coalition - a broad coalition of electoral reform organisations, youth-led organisations and major children's charities.
• In September 2004, we organised a fringe meeting on Votes at 16 at the Labour Party Conference, chaired by 17 year-old Jon Hudson from Article 12 (a child-led organisation). Over 100 young people attended.
• In May 2005, the Votes at 16 Coalition wrote to the three main political parties calling for the 2005 General Election to be the last election where 16 and 17 year-olds would be excluded from voting. The day before the election, we issued a press release calling for votes at 16. This received widespread media coverage. One of CRAE's young trustees, 16 year-old Damilola Ajagbonna, was interviewed on Radio 4's Today programme.
• In January 2006, we brought together 80 young people for a Parliamentary debate. They put forward their views on lowering the voting age to Harriet Harman MP, the Government Minister responsible for the issue at the time.
• During 2006, we lobbied Parliament for voting age reform during the passage of the Electoral Administration Act 2006.
• In June 2008, we supported Julie Morgan MP's Private Member's Bill to reduce the voting age to 16. The Bill had its second reading in the Commons but was talked out by a minority of opposition MPs. Through the Votes at 16 Coalition, we supported young activists to persuade the Labour Party's national policy forum to decide that the Party's next general election manifesto would include votes for 16 and 17 year-olds.