From June 2020, 16 and 17-year olds can vote at Welsh Senedd elections

A new Act (law) is changing the way politics works in Wales. The Senedd and Elections Wales Act of 2020 has made several changes to Welsh politics, including:

(1) Goodbye ‘National Assembly’ – hello ‘Senedd Cymru’

The Welsh Assembly is getting a name change. ‘Senedd’ is the Welsh word for Parliament. Since beginning in 1999, the Welsh Assembly has gained more and more powers over time, and today works more like the Parliament at Westminster.

(2) ‘Assembly Members’ have now become ‘Members of the Senedd’ (MSs)

Welsh politicians have also had a name change

(3) The voting age for Senedd elections has now reduced, from 18 years of age to 16 years of age.

This means that the next Senedd election in May 2021 will be the first in which 16 and 17-year olds can vote in Wales. Around 65,000 young people are expected to benefit.[1]

The first time 16 and 17-year olds could vote in the UK was back in 2014, during the public vote on Scottish independence. But should 16 and 17-year olds be allowed to vote? Is it fair?

There are strong reasons both FOR and AGAINST lowering the voting age to 16.

Reasons FOR 16 & 17-year olds having the vote

• A lot of young people have income from part time jobs, which is taxed by the Government.
• In some countries, voting under the age of 18 is natural. Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua all allow voting at 16.
• Reducing the voting age will hopefully encourage interest and engagement in politics from an earlier age.
• There are normally 4-5 years between elections. If your eighteenth birthday is just after an election, then you have a long time to wait before you can vote.

Reasons AGAINST 16 & 17-year olds having the vote

• Young people have limited life experiences.
• In 1969 the voting age was reduced from 21 years of age to 18. It seems unfair to reduce it even further.
• Most 16 and 17-year olds still live with their family and depend on them for their basic needs.
• In UK law, you are recognised as an adult when you turn 18.
• According to official records, young people (18 to 19-year olds) are the least likely to vote at UK elections.[2]

In the UK, you can do the following from 16, 17 and 18 years of age –

Is voting  a big a deal for young people? Will they care enough about Welsh politics to vote in the 2021 Welsh Senedd election?

References

[1] As reported by Electoral Reform Society Wales

[2] This is according to statistics published by YouGov on the 2017 General Election.

Related Information

If you’d like some more information on voting, click here to see TheSprout’s Voting info page.