95bFM The UK moving to lower the voting age
30 July, 2025
Interview by Caeden Tipler, adapted by Sara Mckoy
The Electoral Reform Society’s Ralph Hall says the UK’s move to allow 16-and 17-year-olds to vote could boost public trust in democracy, following the UK’s lowest general election turnout last year.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is working towards delivering on campaign promises to expand voter eligibility through numerous electoral reforms.
These include lowering the voting age to 16 for all elections in alignment with parts of Scotland and Wales, expanding acceptable voter IDs, automating the voter registration process, and tightening rules on political donations.
If the changes gain parliamentary approval, 1.6 million 16-and 17-year-olds will become eligible to vote, which research has found is likely to increase democratic engagement among younger voters.
Electoral Reform Society advisor, Ralph Hall, told 95bFM’s International Desk that these changes have been coming for a long time.
“There have been campaigns in civil society for this since at least 2003 when a Votes at 16 coalition was formed, so it has been a long debate in the UK.”
He says the success of increased voter engagement in places like Scotland and Austria, where the voting age was lowered, could positively influence the UK’s democratic system, which recorded the lowest general election turnout 2024 in over two decades.
Hall is also optimistic about the impact of automating the voter registration system, removing the administrative burden of updating details.
In New Zealand, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has proposed overhauling the country’s ‘unsustainable’ electoral laws, introducing automatic enrolment updates, and numerous other eligibility and enrolment changes.
Hall says significant electoral reforms in the UK, New Zealand, and globally demonstrate a need to rebuild public confidence in democratic systems.
He is hopeful that lowering the voting age will encourage greater youth engagement.
“I think there's a real need to reflect on our democracies around the world and how to strengthen them.
“Young people have a particularly negative view of the government, but if they have a direct say in elections, then what we've seen from examples in other countries where the voting age is lowered is that people do increase their satisfaction with the government.”
