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The real winner from votes at 16 is democracy

With the new Labour government’s commitment to extending the franchise to 16- and 17-year-olds in their manifesto, many an argument has been levelled against the plan. Most arguments against measures that would improve our democracy...

Posted 27 Aug 2024

Coming into contact with politics in our formative years is crucially important for the future of our democracy

ERS in the Press – Coverage we’ve secured in the GE campaign

You might have noticed that there’s a general election approaching. Whilst the date of the election may have taken us all a little by surprise, the ERS communications team were ready to go and making...

Posted 25 Jun 2024

Could this be the last general election that excludes 16 and 17 year olds?

At the Electoral Reform Society, we have long been advocates of extending the right to vote to 16 and 17-year-olds in general elections. So, we were pleased to see that, when asked on the campaign...

Posted 29 May 2024

16 and 17 year olds already have the vote in devolved elections in Scotland and Wales

Voters trusted themselves to vote at 16 – let’s expand the franchise

Do you think you should have been able to vote from 16? New research commissioned by The Body Shop and The British Youth Council has found that 64% of adults would have liked to have...

Posted 18 Aug 2023

64 per cent of adults would have liked to have had the vote at 16

Exploring the franchise: Who can vote in UK elections?

The franchise has been in the news recently due to Labour considering plans to extend the franchise to resident EU citizens and 16 and 17 year olds. The question of who gets to vote in...

Posted 25 May 2023

The question of who gets to vote is more complicated than you might think

Welcome to Your Vote Week – Raising young people’s political awareness

This week is Welcome to Your Vote Week, a campaign by the Electoral Commission to spark campaigners across the UK to speak to students in schools and raise young people’s political awareness. Amidst a global...

Posted 02 Feb 2023

We have the opportunity to encourage first-time voter participation

Electoral Commission report calls for better political education in Wales

The Electoral Commission report on May 2022’s local elections in Wales, published yesterday, highlights that the extension of the franchise is only the first step in ensuring the participation of new groups of voters in...

Posted 22 Sep 2022

Only 22 percent of parents think that the information their children currently get is sufficient

Early indications suggest Welsh voting pilots went well

In May’s local elections, four areas in Wales trialled a different way of voting – allowing people to cast their vote before election day. As well as polling stations being open on the Thursday 5...

Posted 05 Aug 2022

We need to be looking at removing other barriers to voting in Wales

Now it’s over to the Lords to prevent the government’s assault on democracy

Yesterday was a dark day for democracy. Despite widespread opposition from campaigners, election experts, academics and civil society the government’s Elections Bill successfully passed through the commons. The Bill includes clauses introducing voter ID, more...

Posted 18 Jan 2022

This bill will put too much power in the hands of the government

First time votes for 16 and 17 year olds in Wales – what Westminster can learn

This week we saw history happen in Wales. After years of ERS Cyrmu campaigning for the rights of 16 and 17 year olds to vote in Wales, the first election with an expanded franchise took...

Posted 07 May 2021