Teenagers call for voting at 16 in NI

Oliver is standing in front of a modern glass red brick building and picnic benches.

He has blue eyes, fair eyebrows and short hair pushed back.

Oliver is wearing a blue shirt and navy fleece over it.

He is smiling at the camera. — Image caption,
17 year old Oliver from County Antrim wants to see more mental health services for young people

Robbie Meredith

BBC News NI education correspondent

14 September 2024

"If Scotland and Wales have votes at 16, why doesn't Northern Ireland?"

Jake, 17, from County Down follows politics closely but - as he puts it - he has "no say" on polling day.

He wants that to change, and he is not alone.

About150 young people have gathered at Queen's University in Belfast to begin a campaign calling to be allowed to vote at age 16.

Red brick with a brown door behind railings and a big sign on the railings that reads 'POLLING STATION' in black capital letters against a white cardboard background.

Getty Images

The event at Queen's University Belfast was organised to launch the 'Votes at 16' campaign run by the organisation Politics in Action

Their peers in Scotland and Wales already have that right in elections to councils and national parliaments.

In Scotland, 16-year-olds were allowed to vote in the independence referendum in 2014.

They have since been allowed to vote in elections for local government and the Scottish parliament.

In Wales, 16 and 17 year olds were able to vote in elections for the Welsh Parliament for the first time in 2021.

The event at Queen's to launch the 'Votes at 16' campaign was organised by the Politics in Action organisation.

Lleucu is standing in front of the red bricks of Queen's on a grassy area.

There are trees behind her and the grass is freshly mowed.

She has blond hair in a middle parting, blue eyes, green hoop earrings and a double gold necklace on.

She is wearing a black v neck top and is looking directly at the camera.

Lleucu Haf Wiliam from Wales went to vote on her 16th birthday in 2021

Lleucu Haf Wiliam from Wales was at the event to tell local young people about her experience of voting at 16.

She said she voted with issues in her area in mind and "things that are really affecting me in my daily life.

"Stuff like the environment, I see it every day. I live on Barry Island so I can see how much climate change affects where I live."

Anna is standing in front of red brick, with benches in the background. It is very sunny.

She has blond hair, pearl earrings and a fine necklace. She has blue eyes and is wearing mascara.

She is smiling at the camera and looks like she is wearing red lipstick.

Anna McFadyen from Scotland voted for the first time in a council election when she was 16

Anna McFadyen from Scotland was able to vote for the first time in a council election when she was 16.

"I had a modern studies exam that day, which is kind of politics, so it was really exciting as I got to back to my own primary school and cast my first vote.

"I think it's really important for young people to have their voices heard.

"I always felt because I had the vote at 16 I could be more engaged in politics."

For 17 year old Oliver from County Antrim, he wants politicians to improve mental health services for young people.

"We know that if we can bring votes to 16 year olds and 17 year olds, they'll have to listen to us then.

"Young people's needs for mental health in particular, if they're met at an early stage you can have intervention and ease the stress in the system in the long term."

Jake is standing in front of a tree and benches. He has floppy brown hair and is wearing a navy blue tshirt. He is smiling at the camera.

Jake said that he was frustrated at not being able to vote in the recent general election

Jake said that he was frustrated at not being able to vote in the recent general election.

"I wish I had a say in that, I wish I could vote especially within my local constituency," he said.

"I could go out, help with campaigns, work with local MLAs, potentially contact councillors but when it came to the day of voting I had no say."

Matt is standing in front of trees in the shade.

They have brown hair pushed to the side and red lipstick on.

They are wearing a black leather jacket and a grey jumper with a black turtle neck.

16 year old Matt from Belfast said not being able to vote is putting a barrier between them and Stormont

16 year old Matt from Belfast also wants to be able to vote.

They said it was "a bit condescending" for older people to assume that younger people were not interested in politics.

"It's harmful and it's frustrating for me as I want to get involved in politics and I know so many other people that do.

"And it's really putting a barrier between me and me interacting with Stormont."

Maddison is standing in front of a three story building with lots of windows and red bricks in between the windows. There are trees behind her.

She has brown hair in a middle parting. She is looking at the camera and appears to have blue eyes.

She is wearing a blue long sleeved t-shirt.

17 year old Maddison said that people should not assume young people would just vote the same way as their parents

Maddison, 17, from Enniskillen, told BBC News NI that people should not assume young people would just vote the same way as their parents.

"Often teenagers are seen as doing the opposite of their parents anyway, so I don't know why that would be any different in politics.

"It's about improving democracy, it's not about whether it will benefit a particular political party," she said.

Maddison said she would vote for a candidate based on their policies on "education, the environmental crisis as well, special educational needs.

"A lot of these arguments that are being made against 16 year olds were made against 18 year olds before the voting age was lowered or against women before they were given the vote," she continued.

Paul is standing in front of three windows and a red brick building.

He is bald and is wearing black rimmed glasses.

He is smiling at the camera and is wearing a blue turtle neck t-shirt.

Paul Smyth, from Politics in Action, thinks that politicians in NI could take steps to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote

The overall UK voting age was last lowered in 1969 - from 21 to 18.

Labour's manifesto had pledged to reduce the voting age from 18 to 16 in UK general elections but it was not included in the King's Speech in July which sets out the government's legislative programme.

But according to Paul Smyth, from Politics in Action, MLAs in the Northern Ireland assembly could take steps to allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote in council and assembly elections.

In 2012 members of the Assembly backed a motion calling for the voting age to be reduced to 16, but no action resulted.

"Our parties haven't actually done anything to take the issue forward," he said.

"So, we're calling on the executive to ask Westminster for the powers to be devolved so they can legislate like they did in Scotland and Wales to let 16 and 17 year olds vote."

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