Britain will lower its voting age to 16 in a bid to strengthen democracy

LONDON AP Britain will lower the voting age from to by the next national referendum as part of measures to increase democratic participation the governing body communicated Thursday The center-left Labour Party pledged before it was elected in July to lower the voting age for elections to Britain s Parliament Scotland and Wales already let - and -year-olds vote in local and regional elections Britain will join the short list of countries where the voting age is alongside the likes of Austria Brazil and Ecuador A handful of European Union countries including Belgium Germany and Malta allow -year-olds to vote in elections to the European Parliament The move comes alongside wider reforms that include tightening campaign financing rules to stop shell companies with murky ownership from donating to political parties Democracy Minister Rushanara Ali stated the change would strengthen safeguards against foreign interference in British politics There will also be tougher sentences for people convicted of intimidating candidates Additionally the leadership commented it will introduce automatic voter registration and allow voters to use bank cards as a form of identification at polling stations The previous Conservative leadership introduced a requirement for voters to show photo identification in a measure it announced would combat fraud Critics argued it could disenfranchise millions of voters particularly the young the poor and members of ethnic minorities Elections watchdog the Electoral Commission estimates that about people did not vote in last year s balloting because they lacked ID Turnout in the electoral process was the lowest level in more than two decades Harry Quilter-Pinner head of left-leaning think tank the Institute for Community Approach Research reported the changes were the biggest transformation to our electoral system since when the voting age was lowered to from The changes must be approved by Parliament The next national balloting must be held by For too long citizens trust in our democracy has been damaged and faith in our institutions has been allowed to decline Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner stated We are taking action to break down obstructions to participation that will ensure more people have the opportunity to engage in U K democracy Stuart Fox a politics lecturer at the University of Exeter who has studied youth voting announced it s far from clear whether lowering the voting age really increases youth engagement It is right to help young people be heard he stated But there are other measures which are more effective at getting young people to vote particularly those from the poorest backgrounds who are by far the least likely to vote such as beefing up the citizenship curriculum or expanding the provision of volunteering programs in schools