We are pleased to announce that our latest article ‘”Votes at 16″ and Lessons From 1969’ has been published in the September 2019 edition of Political Insight.
2019 marks the 50th Anniversary of the Representation of the People Act, when the UK became the first state to adopt 18 as the age of enfranchisement. Drawing on research from the project our article explores the development of the age of enfranchisement in the UK by comparing the context and arguments used in 1969 with the contemporary ‘Votes at 16’ debate in the UK.
The article explores the party political context, broader developments in young people’s rights and the motivations that advocates cite for lowering the voting age. We conclude by presenting evidence from our surveys demonstrating an increase in support for ‘votes at 16’ and the partisan nature of that support.
The article is open access and can be found here.
