Would giving 16-year-olds the vote improve democracy or just change the way campaigns are run?
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In England and Northern Ireland, the minimum voting age is 18, however the Scottish parliament and Welsh leaders reduced the minimum voting age to 16. This raises the question of whether the UK as a whole should reduce the minimum voting age from 18 to 16 too.
I think that it would change democracy because our brains are only fully developed at age 26, whereas at age 16 you are still in school and immature. At the age of 16, you are not responsible and do not have the knowledge so poor voting choices are likely to be made. Most countries have their voting age set at 18, which is when you are legally responsible and I think we should stay the same.
If the UK were to reduce the voting age, the democratic opinion of the UK would change as it would allow 1.5 million more votes. I do think democracy would improve as 16- to 17-year-olds do not know enough to vote sensibly.
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