The United Kingdom to reduce the age of voters to 16 in the milestone electoral reform

• The proposed changes are subject to parliamentary approval.
• Reducing the age of 16 does not affect the results of the elections.
• Study shows 16 -year -olds more likely to vote than 18-Overnight ages.
  

The British government announced on Thursday that it intends to give 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all UK elections, marking a major revision of the country’s democratic system.

The government has said that the proposed changes, which are subject to parliamentary approval, would align voting rights across the United Kingdom with Scotland and Wales, where younger voters are already participating in withdrawal elections.

“We take action to abolish obstacles to participation that we will ensure that more people have the opportunity to participate in the United Kingdom Republic,” Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said in a statement.

The turnout in the 2024 general elections was 59.7%, the lowest in general elections since 2001, according to a parliamentary report.

According to the House of Commons Library, research from countries that reduced the age of votes to 16 shows that it had no effect on the election results and that 16 -year -olds were more likely to vote than those who were first eligible at 18.

Labor, whose popularity has been abruptly reduced to the government after being elected by a landslide a year ago, said it would reduce the age of voting if elected.

The reforms will also extend the acceptable voter ID to include bank cards issued by the United Kingdom and digital forms of existing IDs, such as driving licenses and veteran cards.

In order to deal with foreign interference, the government said it was also planning to tighten the rules for political donations, including contributions of contributions to more than £ 500 ($ 670) from non -embedded compounds and closure gaps used by shell companies.