Latest news with #electoralchange
ABC News
18-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
BTN Newsbreak 18/07/2025
UK VOTING AGE The UK has just announced a big electoral change, that would see 1.6 million more people voting in the next general election. Yeah, to vote in the UK's next general election you will only have to be 16 years old. It's a big change, one the UK Government hopes will boost the country's political engagement, trust in democracy and voter turnout. You see, last year, only 59.7 per cent of eligible voters actually voted. It was their lowest voter turnout since 2001, and experts say, lowering the voting age could really help. The minimum voting age has already been changed to 16 in a number of countries, including Belgium, Germany and Austria, which got me thinking, how would we feel about lowering the voting age here? OLIVIA SMITH Canadian soccer player Olivia Smith has broken a world record, not on the field, per se, but in the boardroom. She's just become the first player in the women's game to sign a 1 million pound transfer. That's about 2 million Aussie dollars. Olivia was a striker for Liverpool, but now, she'll be joining Arsenal where you might spot a few familiar faces. Arsenal's got a few Aussie stars on their team – Steph Catley, Kyra Cooney-Cross, and Caitlin Foord. GEN Z STARE This stare appears to be spreading across Gen Z everywhere. But how did it start? Indeed, it's not just Gen Z. Many patients here also present with "the millennial pause". Which is clinically defined as "the brief pause people make after they start recording a video". And since not everyone agrees whether the stare is caused by tiredness, boredom, or the lack of a screen, one question remains, is it even real? MT GAMBIER SCULPTURE First up, to a controversial new public sculpture that's been unveiled in Mt Gambier, in South Australia. It's meant to represent the mythical creatures thought to have lived in the region 60 thousand years ago, but uh, while some locals seem happy with it, others have dubbed it the blue blob. And have criticised the council for spending $136,000 on it. NORTH POLE GOLF Now to a game of golf in the north pole. 19 golfers from around the world battled it out for the very first North Pole Clock Golf Championships. MARS METEORITE And finally, to a record breaking rock which has just sold at auction for just over 8 million bucks. It's the largest piece of mars ever found on earth, and yes, I mean found. It was discovered in the Sahara desert a couple years back, thought to have been blown off the surface of mars by an asteroid strike, eventually making its way through earth's atmosphere.
The Guardian
17-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Lowering the voting age: a boost for UK democracy or a shot in the dark?
Half a century since the national voting age was last lowered, Keir Starmer has decided the time is right to include more than a million 16 and 17-year-olds in democracy for the first time. Like bringing in gay marriage, smoking bans or maternity leave, extending the franchise is a defining policy that will become part of this government's permanent legacy for the country. The thinking behind the move, promised in Labour's manifesto, is that encouraging younger people to vote at an age when they are still largely in education will persuade them to make it a lifelong habit. There is also an issue of fairness. Many young people work and contribute taxes, or serve in the military in non-combat roles. And it will bring England and Northern Ireland into line with Scotland and Wales, where 16 and 17-year-olds have been able to vote in Holyrood, Senedd and local council elections for some time. The government's arguments for electoral change are all about increasing democratic participation, with Starmer saying all young people should have a say in the country's future. 'If you pay in, you should have the opportunity to say how your money should be spent,' he said. There is also an unspoken belief among many in Labour that the change may benefit the left, given that younger people have historically tended to be more leftwing. The Conservatives were certainly not keen on the policy, saying it was 'confusing' that the age group would be able to vote 'but not stand as candidates, and they will be able to vote but not permitted to buy a lottery ticket, consume alcohol, marry or go to war'. The impacts of the change, however, are far from certain. Polling of 500 16 and 17-year-olds conducted by Merlin Strategy for ITV News showed that Labour has most support with 33%, ahead of Reform on 20% and the Conservatives on 10%. But half of them thought they should not yet be allowed to vote, and only 18% said they would definitely vote if there was an election tomorrow. Only half said they had a positive view of democracy, and more than a fifth said they viewed a military strongman with no government or elections positively. The move to extend the franchise in Scotland and Wales has led to mixed results. Dr Stuart Fox from the University of Exeter, who has carried out research into how to encourage voting among young age groups, said it was far from clear that a lower the voting age would increase youth engagement. He also suggested other measures such as more citizenship education. 'Supporters of the change will point to major successes like the Scottish independence referendum, in which the turnout of 16 and 17-year-olds was greater than that of 18 to 21-year-olds, and argue that a lower voting age will help young people get into the habit of voting earlier. 'Far less attention is paid to the case of Wales, however, which reduced the voting age to 16 for the last election in 2021: not only did most 16 and 17-year-olds not vote, barely half even registered to do so. Less attention is also paid to the fact that those Scottish young people who voted aged 16 or 17 are now voting in local and Scottish parliamentary elections at rates little different from their predecessors who weren't able to vote until 18.' Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Supporters of the move, though, think it is a worth a shot, and that every possible attempt should be made to encourage voting at a time when barely half of those eligible cast their ballot at the last election. The executive director of the Institute for Public Policy Research, Harry Quilter-Pinner, said democracy was in crisis, and the country risked 'reaching a tipping point where politics loses its legitimacy'. He said lowering the voting age to 16 and introducing first steps towards automatic voter registration could eventually bring up to 9.5 million new people into the democratic process – a crucial step in rebuilding trust in the system and pushing back against the forces of populism.
