UK wants to lower voting age to 16: Which other nations allow adolescents to cast ballots?

The United Kingdom has decided to extend voting rights to 16 and 17-year-olds in all elections. In a big democratic overhaul, the British government said it will lower the voting age to 16 by the next general election.

It said the proposed changes would align the voting rights across the UK with Scotland and Wales. If the move is approved by the UK Parliament, around 1.5 million (15 lakh) 16 and 17-year-olds will be eligible to vote in the next general election.

Besides the UK, which other countries allow teenagers to vote? Let’s take a look.

UK to lower voting age

The UK government’s plan to lower the age for exercising the voting franchise stems from the Labour Party's manifesto promise.

“We are taking action to break down barriers to participation that will ensure more people have the opportunity to engage in UK democracy,” British Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said in a statement.

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She said the government is “delivering on our promise” on the lower voting age.“Young people already contribute to society by working, paying taxes and serving in the military,” Rayner wrote in a post on X. “It’s only right they can have a say on the issues that affect them.”

The development is a part of a series of measures which will be introduced through a new Elections Bill.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the move will give young people a chance to have a say on what their taxes are used for.

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“I think it’s really important that 16 and 17-year-olds have the vote, because they are old enough to go out to work, they are old enough to pay taxes, so pay in,” he told ITV News. “And I think if you pay in, you should have the opportunity to say what you want your money spent on, which way the government should go.”

The Conservative Party has criticised the UK government’s plan to lower the voting age.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Conservative shadow minister for Housing Paul Holmes described the government’s position on the voting age as “hopelessly confused”. “Why does this government think a 16-year-old can vote but not be allowed to buy a lottery ticket, an alcoholic drink, marry, or go to war, or even stand in the elections they’re voting in?” he asked.

The next general elections are expected in the UK by August 2029.

Which countries allow teenagers to vote?

Ecuador, Brazil and Argentina permit 16 and 17-year-olds to vote. However, it is not compulsory for them to cast their ballots, unlike those aged 18 and above, as per The Guardian.

Austria was the first country in the European Union to lower its voting age to 16 in 2011.
The legal voting age is 16 in Nicaragua, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Guernsey, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Cuba and Brazil.

The minimum voting age in East Timor, Ethiopia, Indonesia, North Korea and Sudan is 17.
Some countries and territories, such as Estonia, Germany, Israel, Puerto Rico, Scotland, and Wales, allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in at least some elections.

Those aged 16 in Belgium, Austria, Germany and Malta, and people aged 17 in Greece can cast their ballots in European elections, as per Unicef.

Some states in the US allow 17-year-olds to vote in the presidential or congressional primaries or party caucuses if they turn 18 before the general election.

Debate around giving voting rights to adolescents

The UK’s adolescents are split in their views about lowering the voting age. As per a new poll, almost half of 16 and 17-year-olds do not think they should have the right to vote.

The survey of 500 people in the 16-17 age group by Merlin Strategy for ITV News found that 49 per cent did not want the voting age to be lowered to 16, while 51 per cent said it should.

“I am a 17-year-old politics student who is actually against the proposed vote at 16,” Chloe Brown from West Dorset was quoted as saying by BBC.

“We’ve discussed this again and again through so many different governments and it’s clear that lower voter turnout is going to be the norm if this actually goes through, and political parties will turn to populism even further when catering to younger audiences.

“This is not the win for young people Starmer thinks it is, it’s just him trying to win back votes from Reform and it will backfire,” she added.

Voter turnout at the 2024 UK general election was 59.7 per cent, the lowest since 2001, according to a parliamentary report.

Others have welcomed the move.

“I think it’s a really good thing,” 23-year-old business consultant Leo Lardi told Reuters, as the step gives the younger generation “an opinion and a vote on a lot of the issues that are facing the UK today”.

He said that if he could have had the right to vote at 16, it would have made him think more about the issues that affect him. “The future really affects those who are younger than us,” he added.

Critics of lowering the voting age to 16 argue that children are too ill-informed to vote.
As per Unicef, other arguments are that adolescents are not too politically engaged or are too vulnerable to manipulation. But these could also be said for adults who have the right to vote.

Many experts say that a 16-year-old has the cognitive and critical thinking capacities to make political decisions independently.

Some studies have found that mid-adolescents have similar levels of political knowledge as younger adults.

Opponents also say that allowing young people to vote would lead to policy chaos. The argument is that if children are irrational and incoherent but still allowed to vote, the “outcome of elections, and the policy decisions they give rise to, would surely reflect or be distorted by their ill-conceived and incoherent votes,” Harry Pearse, Research associate, Centre for the Future of Democracy, University of Cambridge, wrote for The Conversation.

However, he argued that voting is a “statement of equality” and a “(loose) guarantee that one’s concerns and perspectives will not be systematically overlooked by politicians.”
“The fact that children can’t vote means they’re denied this respect and protection,” Pearse wrote.

With inputs from agencies