Give us the vote!

Matthew Gardner

Name:Matthew Gardner
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Joined: Nov 2011
Occupation: studying English at Leeds University
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When I was 17 I yearned, starry eyed, to vote, to have an influence. The 2011 local elections were my first chance. To say that I was pleased with the result would be a lie; the status quo stayed the same. The system doesn’t change that often, and when it does it has very little to do with the voters, but smoke filled rooms and key figures storming out. A change is needed; I think the voting age is that change.

Photo By Adrian Scottow

I’ll make the case brief – I believe these arguments are becoming tired and are beginning to be ignored. Firstly, there is inconsistency between what young people can and can’t do. They can leave school, get married (with permission), leave home, claim benefits, join the armed forces and pay taxes from 16, whilst learning to drive a car from 17. All of these ages were decided upon by representatives who weren’t chosen by those him their decisions affected. Secondly, due to the nature of the political system it could be as late as a person’s 23rd year before they get the chance to vote. This is compounded by the fact that Britain’s population – whilst not young on average – has a large young population. One in five is under the age of 18. At 16 there is a large group of people who are granted the right to so many life changing decisions, but who are denied the right to vote.

These are just facts and figures; they don’t describe young people’s desire to be active in politics. The student protests were an example of students attempting to challenge the system and the decisions of those concerned with legacy rather than the present. (Please note I am not bashing the Conservative policy, it wasn’t their decisions that damaged the system, but a series of mismanagements down the decades.) It was only a minority of people who opted to riot and ‘challenge’ the system attempting to help them. This was not positive participation and looking on Facebook or Twitter afterwards there was an outcry, not only condemning the vandals, but also offering suggestions of what needed to be done. This wasn’t just one sided either; my friends were split. Some believed there should be harsh punishments, others insisted that they were failed by a greater interest in overseas policy, and the few in the City.

The political comedian John Oliver once stated that the time to protest is when you are young, because it can be excused that you are going to be radical and want to fight authority (or do ‘stupid things’, to adopt his the terminology). I would like to suggest that this isn’t always the case; they say that conservatism arrives when you are older, but young people today possess the same ideological diversity as the older people of the nation. Giving the youth the right to vote wouldn’t give one side an advantage.

If the government does grant intelligent and motivated young people the chance to get into the habit of voting, they must back this up with education. Citizenship classes are important, but young people could gain so much more from politics classes, incorporating the essentials of being a citizen (namely that laws are there to protect, until they are broken, then they punish.) The majority of politicians will testify that their interest in politics stems from having learned about it from a young age; from a parent, teacher or even having played an active role in the political culture. It should be compulsory for all pupils to become educated in politics as a rite of passage as essential as English and maths. They cannot then dismiss it as something that has abandoned them.

I believe that a high voting age justifies youth anger. It tells someone that they’re too young and not permitted to be a part of the adult world, a world that they haven’t been educated in the ways of. Lowering the voting age is important. It means that voting becomes a fundamental moment that arrives with marriage, sexual relations and employment; politics and voting need to be an inseparable a part of life.

What do you think?

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