Your views are needed

[Susie]

Hello all

The Electoral Commission is seeking the views of 14-24 year olds on whether they think the minimum voting and candidacy age in the UK should be changed.

What do you think? Should the age be lowered? Would lowering the voting or candidacy ages encourage young people to take part in elections?

Susie :)

[Toadborg]

To increase turnout two things are needed in my opinion.

a) a demonstratablke and significant difference in the major parties and what they satnd for.

b) to persuade people that their vote can make the difference.

I don't see how reducing voting age could improve things, I would imagine it would decrease the turnout as a percentage...

I am not sure that a high enough portion of 16 year olds would use their vote reponsibly or maturely, or for that matter independantly, I would think they are more likely to be influenced by how their family and friends vote.........

It seems rather Gimmicky.

What is the minimu candidacy age at the moment?

[Char_Baby]

if your old enough to earn a wage and have tax taken out of it to support the government, then you should have the right to choose that government. the minimum voting age should be 16.

[BeckyBoo]

Originally posted by Char_Baby
if your old enough to earn a wage and have tax taken out of it to support the government, then you should have the right to choose that government. the minimum voting age should be 16.

You tell em ;)

[Simba T Lion]

What is the voting age there?

[White Noise]

Originally posted by Char_Baby
if your old enough to earn a wage and have tax taken out of it to support the government, then you should have the right to choose that government. the minimum voting age should be 16.

:chin: not sure about that one. just becuase someones capable of working doesn't mean they have the intelligence and maturity which is meant to be required for voting. i know not everyone with the vote is like that but a line has to be drawn somewhere.

i know when i was 16/17 i couldn't give a flying feck who was in power n would have voted for a random person, or maybe drawn a doodle on the ballot slip :D

[paperBprincess]

surely if at 16 you can get married, fight and die for your country surely you should be able to vote for who runs the country?

[Lil Laura]

Originally posted by paperBprincess
surely if at 16 you can get married, fight and die for your country surely you should be able to vote for who runs the country?

:yes:

If there are people that don't have the 'intelligence and maturity which is meant to be required for voting', then surely they do not have the intelligence and maturity for the above things?

Also, at 16 you can be taxed on wages, and like Char_baby said, if you are going to get taxed on wages, you should have the right to vote. It should be taxes and the vote, or neither IMO.

[White Noise]

Originally posted by paperBprincess
surely if at 16 you can get married, fight and die for your country surely you should be able to vote for who runs the country?

marriage is a matter of the heart, well, mostly... :confused:

and to fight n die would probably take courage and ability, not really that helpull in voting.

i dunno, i just think it takes a bit of maturity. i know lots of people around the age of 16 are extremely mature but for the majority hangin out on street corners is the biz, ooo yeah..... :eek2:

[z0ma]

Originally posted by White Noise
i dunno, i just think it takes a bit of maturity. i know lots of people around the age of 16 are extremely mature but for the majority hangin out on street corners is the biz, ooo yeah..... :eek2:

At the end of the day though, everyone over the age of 18 has the right to vote, but not everyone does.

If it was lowered to 16, then only the more mature or those with an active interest in politics would vote, as it is now.

I'm all for it being lowered to 16, like I said only those who are mature and with an interest will choose to vote and their opinions count for exactly the same as someone who is over 18.

:thumb:

[fugue]

I think 16 year olds are mature enough. and deserve to have a say.
So i think the age should be dropped to 16

[Dreamer3k]

Originally posted by z0ma
If it was lowered to 16, then only the more mature or those with an active interest in politics would vote, as it is now.

this in itself is negative. It'll have a knock on effect, as the eligable voter numbers increase, of the new voters, how many are going to vote? It'll lower the national turnout statistics, which will cause MORE apathy, and we'd still be left in a situation where the only "select few" who think that they can change the world will vote.

Keep it at 18, I'd even be happy with it being raised to 21.

[Dear Wendy]

I second what Dreamer3k has said. I'd be seriously worried if 16 year old were allowed to vote. When speaking to people the reasonings they give behind the parties they support are laughworthy, though at the same time scary.
It is few people my age, who bother to look into the different agenadas of the parties. Even people who're equipped with common sense and intelligence astonish me when the talk is turned towards politics, as they simply don't know the basics.

On the other hand, it is unfair of society to claim taxes, when not giving the right to vote and other likes in return. So perhaps the age of people taxed should be raised in the UK?

[girl with sharp teeth]

.

[BeckyBoo]

Originally posted by z0ma
If it was lowered to 16, then only the more mature or those with an active interest in politics would vote, as it is now.



:yes:

I cant write my views here cos im an old foagey :(

but nowt stopping me agreeing with peeps though, eh :p

[1983]

I'd keep it at 18, by then, Uni will be starting and a larger scale of awareness of politics may incur. So, yeah, 18. That all made sense in my head. :\

[LadyT]

Originally posted by BritJames
21.

People will have then gone through the stages of the ages (16, 18 and then 21) and realised what a proper term in government is.

they should THEN be able to decide who gets power - after a few years of actually noticing what the previous government is doing - instead of voting lab / cons / lib because their folks do (which is probably a higher percentage of the younger generation than is expected)

anyways, yes, 21 - just for the sole reason of being able to watch a government from a decent age where politics is understandable

:yes: I agree. I think it should be 21 too. I can honestly say i do not know one 18 year old that votes, and i know quite a few. They just dont know what they're talking about. Yea, dont get me wrong, i know there ARE people out there who do know what they're talking about and know about politics etc, but chances are they're the minority.
Raising it to 21 means people are more mature and have more knowledge as to what goes into running a country. Rather than just picking the political party they've heard of and whatnot... You need to know what they stand for. Not only this, you need to be able to understand the system. Its not as straight forward as people think...
So yeah, i'll stop rambling and say make it 21.

[Toadborg]

Personally I would not say that there is a massively marked difference between the political understanding of 18 and 21 year olds. I think enough 18 year olds, 19 year olds and 20 year olds (my own age) are mature and knowledgeable enough to be granted the vote.......

As to the suggestion of lowering to 16 due to tax and army service i do not think that 16 year olds should be able to join the army for a start and 7 year olds buying sweets get taxed on VAT but i don't think anyone would sugest letting them vote.........

[LadyJade]

Is it the maturity of people at the age of voting that concerns people, or the lack of clear and concise information to enable voters to have an informed opinion?

[Dear Wendy]

Originally posted by LadyJade
Is it the maturity of people at the age of voting that concerns people, or the lack of clear and concise information to enable voters to have an informed opinion?

The lack of clear and cocise information, as you stated it. And I don't think that making politics compulsary at school will help as some people simply don't have an interest for that. I have a friend who says "whenever the talk turns to politics, I find something else to do. It doesn't interest me, and I don't want to spend time discussing it". And she sure as hell isn't the only one with that opinion.

[Toadborg]

Originally posted by LadyJade
Is it the maturity of people at the age of voting that concerns people, or the lack of clear and concise information to enable voters to have an informed opinion?

Both

People need to be informed about who they are voting for and how the system works.

Also people need to be mature enough to use their vote vaguely sensibly i.e. vote relatively independantly and for your own reasons, take it seriously.......

[Kermit]

If people in this country are deemed mature enough to kill and die for their country, or work for a living, then they are mature enough to vote. Simple as.

Taxation without representation is slavery.

However, if we were to want a better calibre of voter, then raising it to 21 wouldnt be a bad start. More life experience, more maturity, more knowledge. Having a general knowledge test would be helpful too, to stop people who know nothing from being able to influence Government- like on Europe, for instance, most people still stupidly think that they havent had a referendum yet, when in fact they did in 1972. Maybe if theyd paid attention theyd have voted with more intelligence.

But I digress.

If the Government wants to tax 16 year olds it must give them the franchise. If it doesnt want them to have the franchise then taxation for them must be stopped. If it wants a good frnachise raise it to 21, but again, no tax for those who are not eligible to vote.

I have an interesting idea to increase turnout though- if you dont vote for the winning party, you pay no tax, but if you dont turn up then you pay double. Though unfortunately that would slightly compromise anonymity...

[Kermit]

Originally posted by LadyJade
Is it the maturity of people at the age of voting that concerns people, or the lack of clear and concise information to enable voters to have an informed opinion?

Its not so much the maturity of voting age, more the maturity of voters. there are 50 year olds who still vote Labour because a) they always have done, b) they like Tony Blairs hair or c) The SUn told them to.

As for the lack of concise information- if people saw politicians concisely and clearly theyd want to brutally execute the whole lot fo them, so I guess that good information is not in the interests of the Government.

[Toadborg]

I object to those of you who wish to take my right to vote away from m, are you by a tiny possibility, all 21 or over :rolleyes:

kermit, like I say, 7 year olds buying sweets pay VAT, would you allow them to vote?

Will people that fail your knowledge test not have to pay tax?

[Dear Wendy]

Originally posted by Kermit


I have an interesting idea to increase turnout though- if you dont vote for the winning party, you pay no tax, but if you dont turn up then you pay double. Though unfortunately that would slightly compromise anonymity...

I don't get that. Would you please explain?
Why should people who vote for the losing party not pay tax? Is that as a "runner-up prize" for not getting your views through in the new government?

[Sera]

Originally posted by Toadborg
As to the suggestion of lowering to 16 due to tax and army service i do not think that 16 year olds should be able to join the army for a start and 7 year olds buying sweets get taxed on VAT but i don't think anyone would sugest letting them vote.........

:o! I thought food was untaxed? Or are sweets a special case? A 'luxury item' i suppose :s

[White Noise]

Originally posted by Kermit

If the Government wants to tax 16 year olds it must give them the franchise. If it doesnt want them to have the franchise then taxation for them must be stopped.

Do we not pay taxes to support society? A 16 year old has already gone through school, maybe been to hospital, used the roads, etc. All have to be paid for somehow.

Just because someone can't vote doesn't mean they can't help pay for the benefits of society which they've no doubt utilised

[Renzo]

16, i want a say in how its run. Ive been intrested in politics for years, yet i cant do anything. Apparently im not 'mature' enough to vote.

On the other hand though im guessing im a minority of 17 year olds, but most people who are not intrested in voting now wont vote ever will they?

[Toadborg]

Originally posted by lil_kazzy
:o! I thought food was untaxed? Or are sweets a special case? A 'luxury item' i suppose :s

Nw you mention it, I don't know, i just assumed that food had VAT.......:confused:

[Renzo]

Originally posted by Toadborg
Nw you mention it, I don't know, i just assumed that food had VAT.......:confused:

it doesnt

*watched video on tax in school today*;)

[Toadborg]

Wow!

[paperBprincess]

also i think that schools should have mandatory government and politics classes from the start of secondary school, we have citezenship in the final year of gcse's but its stupid as its only for 15 minutes a week. if younger people had more knowledge of how changes in government would affect them they would have a clearer view of who to vote for

[byny]

I voted 18 because although I used to think that 16 should be the age, now that I'm older I believe some 16 year olds are just too uninformed to make decisions about who should lead the country.

Infact, a small part of me wonders if it should be 21...because by then many young people will be out in the world and will have been exposed to views of different kinds and hopefully would have made up their mind by themselves.