A Vote at 16…

By Brigid O Gorman

At the end of January this year the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) launched the ‘Vote at 16’ campaign. The aim of this campaign was to reduce the voting age for European and local elections to 16.

While a referendum must be held to change the voting age for the Dáil and referenda, the Minister for the Environment can simply change the law to allow young people to vote in local and European elections. The law was not changed before these elections but that does not mean it will not be changed to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote in the next EU elections in five years time. Such a move would certainly strengthen the youth voice among voters and would make politicians more reactive to their concerns.

The NYCI makes the point that at 16 young people can leave school, take on full time employment and be held in a detention centre. Thee NYCI also says that it would be easier to ensure that 16 year olds are registered to vote as the vast majority of them are still in school and living at home. This is not the case with 18 year olds who are often in the process of moving away from home and so do not register to vote; according to NYCI 25% of 18-25 year olds aren’t on the register.

Some people may argue that 16 and 17 year olds are not mature enough to vote and would not be interested in voting anyway. This is unfair and does not take into account the young people out there who are interested in politics and how it affects the world around them. Young people learn about politics in school now through the Civil Social and Political Education (CSPE) course at Junior Cert level and a new subject, Politics and Society, is being developed for the Leaving Cert curriculum and should come on stream over the next few years.

At 16 you can be held responsible for you own actions and so it is reasonable to have the right to vote and to have some say in how the world around you is run. 'Vote at 16' also has a BeBo site which contains many comments from young people who are supportive of this campaign. It is very possible that by the next European Parliament elections, 16 year olds will be able to vote. So, all those MEPs should listen to the youth voice, because come re-election time it might be even more important.