#lowerthevotingage

[thecarrshow]

Carr Show vs NewsBroke AJ+

[sheldonthephantomwolf]

EU Referendum and the Voting Age

*WARNING* *LENGTHY POST* Another absurdity that has most definitely contributed to the result today is the fact that our country’s voting age currently stands at 18. The breakdown of the votes have shown that the younger voters were more likely to vote remain whereas the more elderly voters were more likely to vote leave. I do not mean any offence by saying this, but the younger people in Britain are going to face the repercussions of this decision (Day 1 has merely foreshadowed the detrimental consequences) for decades longer than the more elderly voters. Yet somehow, our ‘constitution’ dictates that those under the age of 18 cannot participate on democratic activities. It is important to note that the exact day that somebody turns 18, they become eligible to vote. The means that anyone turning 18 today was unable to participate in yesterday’s referendum. There appears to be a false assumption that youth is intrinsically linked to some sort of naivety when in reality a substantial amount of young people are fully aware of current political events, have a good understanding and opinion of them and want their opinion to count. However, it can’t count due for no other reason than they haven’t been born for 18 years yet. Twice I have attended an A-Level politics conference at Westminster Hall where politics students from all over the nation gather to listen to and question the politicians who speak there. All attend due to a genuine interest in politics, yet the majority are unable to cast a vote. Yet a significant proportion of the electorate will have made their decision based purely on what their friends/family have told them and have done no research and had no interest or investment into such a prominent issue. My basic point is this, the voting age must be lowered to make our country a lot more representative. Many politicians claim that they care deeply about the opinions of young people, lowering the voting age and give them the opportunity to voice their opinion.