Sixteen-year-olds to get right to vote in elections

SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLDS will be given the right to vote in all UK elections as part of new UK Government plans.

- RUTH MOSALSKI AND CHRISTOPHER MCKEON

It brings the UK in line with Wales, where 16and 17-year-olds have been able to vote in Senedd and council elections.

Labour's manifesto had committed the party to lowering the voting age for parliamentary elections to 16, in line with Welsh and Scottish elections.

The plans announced yesterday, however, go further in an effort to increase participation in elections.

Ministers have proposed introducing automated voter registration, which is already used in Australia and Canada, and making UK-issued bank cards an accepted form of ID at polling stations.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said "far too many people" had been put off voting by the voter ID rules introduced by the previous government, with the Electoral Commission finding around 750,000 people did not vote due to a lack of ID.

The UK Government has already made the Veteran Card an accepted form of voter ID, and intends to allow digital forms of ID to be used when they become available.