Should 16 year olds be allowed to vote?

[ExitChasedByABee]

Great points raised by Kate Williams on Twitter. Should 16 year olds be allowed to vote or are they still too young?

Yes

No way!

No.

This is an issue on which my view has changed, because society has changed since I was a teenager back in the 1980s. In those days, most 16 & 17 year olds had left FT education and were working, contributing to society, earning money and paying taxes. They were mini-adults with some adult responsibilities and a degree of financial independence from their parents.

These days, many 21 year olds have yet to attain that level of independence. Adulthood has been postponed by up to five years in many cases. My view is that the voting age should remain at 18, but case for putting it back to 21 is now stronger than the case for lowering it to 16.

Yes.

Yes. You can get married at 16 in Scotland, and go to uni (although few people do nowadays)

No. Most 16-year-olds are still in full time education. They are not treated as adults in the criminal justice system

Unless the age of criminal responsibility is lowered, I see no reason for them to vote. Either they are fully mature adults or they are not.

Yes. When I was sixteen I’d have put way more time and energy into researching who to vote for than I (or most adults) do now.

I actually think you should have to pass a quick test to be able to vote, a bit like how you have to pass the driving theory test to do the practical exam. So many people vote for parties because of some weird tribal loyalty vibr while having no idea what their policies are.

Yes they are really politically aware and savvy and would bring a great youth voice into the national debate

No. This grey area around 16-18 yo needs clearing up. It's all so arbitrary as to what they can and can't do.

They'd vote extremists or ridiculous options just for the meme. DS16 has admitted as much.

you can't say someone is too immature to take part in voting but mature enough to hold down a full time job

The two are not even remotely comparable; you really can't equate them.

Yes.