'Old enough to pay tax, old enough to vote': Inverclyde's MSYPs on voting age change
The UK Government has announced plans to lower the voting age across the country to let 16 and 17-year-olds vote, meaning these born in 2013 will be able to cast a ballot in the 2029 general election.
In Scotland, those as young as 16 have been voting since 2016 when they were granted the right by Holyrood to vote in Scottish Parliamentary elections and local elections.
Matthew Quinn MSYP (Image: Contributed) Members of the Scottish Youth Parliament (MSYP) for Inverclyde, Matthew Quinn and Maya McCrae, have both praised the Westminster decision and have offered some advice for first time voters.
Matthew said lowering the voting age is a 'major victory' for young people.
He said: 'One of the main Scottish critiques of the Westminster system is that it is not always representative of the people. I feel this decision is an important step towards changing that.
'I would say to younger voters who will be voting [for the first time], do your own research and try to become as informed as possible.
'It is easier to make a choice in an election if you have a good idea of all the parties, candidates and what they stand for.'
Despite his praise for the plans, Matthew also says that this policy change 'merely gives young people what they deserve'.
Maya McCrae (Image: George Munro) Maya has also welcomed the decision, saying it is a change the electoral system 'really needed'.
She told the Tele: 'I think this is fantastic news and proves that if young people stick to our guns and campaign for what we want, we will see results.
'Young people working alongside the SYP have put in so much time and energy to create the impact that was needed to see this policy pushed through and I'm just delighted to see our hard work pay off.
'With voter turnout consistently decreasing and with the change in the political atmosphere, young people deserve to have their say.
'If you're old enough to pay taxes, you're old enough to vote on how that money should be spent.'
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Maya's advice to young voters is to become involved in politics early on and to be wary of using social media as a primary source of information when it comes to election time.
She added: 'With the rise in social media becoming the primary source for news, I think it's really important that governments focus on decreasing the levels of propaganda and misinformation that's spread across the internet, and that there's a real drive to encourage young people to get involved in politics from as early as possible.'
Alongside this change, voters will now be able to use UK-issued bank cards as a form of voter ID, providing the card displays the elector's name.
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