[Chris22]

(Original post by Mazzini)
No. Many 16-year-olds are not mature enough to be making decisions relating to the politics of the country.

This point could apply for people of all ages. Maybe more so to 16 year olds however.

[Shabalala]

When I was 16/17 I was for it being lowered but now i'm 18 I can see why it's 18 politicians would easily manipuluate idiotic teens Alex Salmond is a prime example he wants to lower the voting age to 16 because he knows he can manipulate the younger ones by whipping them into a freenzy about the "basturt english" by shoving Braveheart on the school curriculum he is a manipulative ******** who misses out all the bad things from Scottish independence the immature 16/17 year old mostly won't realise that though..

[Ra Ra Ra]

No, simply because so many 16-18 year olds know so little about Politics. During the 2010 General Election, for example, everyone in my year were asked to vote for who they wanted in power. At least ten people chose UKIP 'because it had the longest name' and many more didn't have the faintest idea who was leading the Labour Party. Asked one friend, after we'd voted:

'Isn't it Tony Blair?'

However, one could argue that the ones who aren't in the know wouldn't bother voting evenifthey were allowed. I don't know. Many 16-18 year olds do know a lot about politics (some probably know more about politics than some of the politicians themselves), but - and I hate to say this - in my town at least, they are in the minority.

Sometimes I really wish we were given the opportunity to learn about how the government works/types of parties/voting/etc during secondary school. It seems rather more useful for future life than, say, a Christian's moral view on IVF.

[Herr]

Certainly not, though am quite keen on the idea that 16 years of age should allow you to vote in local area elections.

[bkeevin]

(Original post by Scarface-Don)
If it was to be lowered to 16, I think that the voting system would become invalid. This is because many 16 year olds do not have a clue who to vote for so its likely that others e.g. their parents may tell them who to vote for. You could even have some youngsters selling their vote to supporters of a particular party. We also have to remember that we have a huge population of 16-18 year olds in this country.

So do you mean that the current voting system is invalid already? I know a few of 18, 20, 25 and 30 year olds who haven't a clue about politics yet they have the vote. The argument that they would only do what their parents tell them to do was equally used against granting women the vote since they would just obey their husbands and didn't pay tax/land owners anyway. The demographics of 16-17 year olds is not big enough to alter the results of most elections. Granting them them the vote will not effect any noticeable change except maybe in increasing their level of interest in politics.

[flugelr]

Getting the vote is part of becoming a full citizen of this country. Should we extend the other duties of a citizen to 16 year olds?

Should 16 year olds do jury duty and be allowed to fight in warzones?

[RK]

Just looking at the poll results here. Is anyone else surprised by them? I thought there'd be more support for lowering the page than we're seeing. Can anyone suggest why that might be?

[tc323]

16 year olds can hold a full time job and therefore pay tax- no taxation without representation!

can also: Join the army, leave school, marry and have children, choose your own doctor and consent to medical procedures, move out, rent your own house and set up a bank account.

Surely if you are deemed to be fit to do all that then voting isn't too much of a stretch?

In response to everyone who says 16 year olds arn't mature enough since when has maturity or comprehension been a prerequisite of voting? You can be 25 and unbelievably immature yet arbitrarily they could vote and a politically engaged 16 year old couldn't?

Maybe a little bitter as was 12 days too young to vote at the last general election

[pink pineapple]

I think theyshould be able to. There are many 16 year-olds who are very poltically aware, more than some adults who have a sense of apathy towards politics.