The Current - Should 16-year-olds be allowed to vote?

Episode Date: July 23, 2025

If you’re 16, that means you’re old enough to drive a car and get a job — but should you also be able to cast a vote?  The U.K. says yes.  The country is lowering the voting age to 16, and advocates in Canada say we should do the same.  Our guests make the case and explain how a decision like this can reshape our democracy.

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This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is the current podcast. By the time their next general election rolls around in a few years, the United Kingdom could have one of the lowest voting ages in the world. The governing Labour Party is proposing legislation that would lower the voting age to 16 from 18. They're old enough to go out to work.

They're old enough to pay taxes. So to pay in. And I think if you pay in, you should have the opportunity to say what you want your money spent on, which way the government should go. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says it's a move designed to boost voter turnout, strengthen democracy and restore trust. But critics argue it's politically motivated, a ploy to attract more young voters who they say tend to support left-leaning parties. Andrew Mycock is a political scientist who has studied

voting age reform. He is also chief policy fellow at the University of Leeds. Andrew, hello. Andrew Mycock Good morning. S1 You have called this initiative in the UK a once-in-a-generation opportunity. So why is it a good idea to lower the voting age to 16, do you think? Andrew Mycock Well, there are a couple of reasons why. One is just the perilous state of democracy in the United Kingdom. If we look at political trust in politicians and also in the system itself, it's at an all-time low. We see UK turnout rates, particularly for sub-Westminster elections,

it's a very depressed state. And particularly young people simply are not voting or getting involved in politics. And there's clearly an issue here that needs to be solved. I think the other reason why it needs to be lowered is quite simply because at the moment we have a situation where in Scotland and Wales, young people can vote in local and national elections at 16, but in England and Northern Ireland, they can't. So there's a need to level up political rights. Hmm. In the UK, you have to be 18 to run for office or to buy alcohol or to join the army

without your parents' permission. Is it a bit odd, do you think, to give young people the right to vote when they aren't trusted with these other adult responsibilities? It's a good question and it's one of the key themes around low in the voting age of 16. And it goes back really to when the voting age was lowered to 18, when the age of majority and the age of enfranchisement were established in the public mind as well as in politics as being congruent, as being the same. I think since then we've seen that, you know, different rights are realised at different ages. At 18 isn't't this more curial point at which we become an adult? And a lot of those responsibilities that we associate with adulthood, such as starting a family, getting a job, or owning a property, are being deferred now into even

your mid to late 20s. So I think there is a question here about a broader conversation about what is adulthood and when do young people become adults. I think the other issue here, which is key, is that, you know, within the electorate, there are a lot of adults that have cognitive disabilities or issues like dementia, and we don't question their role in the electorate. So I think this idea that somehow young people at the age of 16 or 17 might be deficient or may lack that maturity or cognition, I think is questionable. And I think the danger is here that if 16 and 17 year olds are stigmatized as being different or somehow ill-prepared or not particularly ready to

vote, that it starts to break down that narrative around the inclusive electorate. Okay, so of course there's a diversity of opinion in the United Country. I want to ask you about how the British public is reacting. I just want to play a little bit of tape. These are some people Channel 4 News spoke with when this plan was announced. So 16 year olds voting, what do you reckon? Ridiculous. Why? They have no life experience. I think there needs to be more education around voting before you lower the age. 18, I think Sanai said, but I think 16 is just a bit too young for him.

Okay, Andrew, how common is that view that 16 is too young to vote among the population in the UK? It's pretty widespread and I think one of the challenges for the UK government is, is that public opinion has been against the measure for, you know, 20 years or so since it came up as an issue. And I think the challenge here is, is to kind of shift the dial in this idea about, well, are we bringing in adults at a younger age? And actually say, young people want to vote as young people and their experience is as young people. And at the moment, if you think about it, up to the age of 18, young people have no real voice in the decisions that shape their life. And that means that they come into the electorate at

18 and think, well, is politics really going to change my life, particularly now? So I think there is an argument to say bringing in men earlier could create the habit of voting. And also it could actually inject a sort of youthful and you know, vigor and energy into our politics that isn't there at the moment. There is an argument or one of them against it is saying like, if we're going to do this, then and we heard the young woman there say this, there's a need for more civic education before lowering the voting age. What do you think about that? Absolutely.

And I think one of the things which has been evident in both Scotland and Wales, where the voting age has been low to 16, is neither government thought about that, how we socialize young people to get them ready to vote, whether the age is 16 or 18. Because at the moment, we can't say that they're being particularly well-educated to

be able to vote at 18, because the figures are appalling in terms of their turnout compared to other age cohorts. So I think there is a bigger question here about the importance of democracy and the way in which we educate young people and treat them as citizens before they vote, whatever the age is. You mentioned Scotland and other jurisdictions. What's the evidence been there? Like what have you seen since they've lowered the age to 16? Have 16, 17 year olds been turning out en masse?

What's it been looking like? The evidence is mixed. It's undoubtedly have an effect in terms of political interest and their engagement with politics and there is a slight increase in terms of political interest and their engagement with politics. And there is a slight increase in terms of turnout overall. But one of the interesting things is although 16 and 17 year olds vote at a higher rate than 18 to 24 year olds, they don't vote anywhere near as high a level in Scotland even now as those older voters. And so I think there is a real issue here which goes beyond lowering the voting

age, which is that political parties haven't really changed how they create the policies that might attract new people. The age of representation of people in parliament is still 50 at all levels of government. So when young people look at politics, it looks different to them. And there's been a real lack of a change in the way political parties communicate with younger voters. So it's not surprising in some ways, although the voting age has been lower to 16, it hasn't proven to be a panacea to many of the problems of youth political disengagement. Yeah, we see similar trend lines here in Canada too about older people turning

out to vote more than younger people and so on and so forth. You heard perhaps at the beginning of the show that some observers have suggested that lowering the voting age would give an advantage to the Labour Party in the UK, which may be part of its motivation in bringing in these reforms because the argument goes that younger people tend to vote for more left-leaning parties. Is there anything to that though in 2025? We see different trend lines. There is some evidence that that still sustains, although the Labour Party has been supporting this measure for over 20 years. So they've had a long-term investment in it. But there is some indication that young people do typically vote for more progressive parties

as they'd call themselves. That said, recent polling has suggested up to 35% of young men would consider voting for Reform UK, which is the right-wing party in the UK. And I think that the general overall argument that this is a form of gerrymandering kind of overlooks the fact that maybe one of the big problems with the reason why young people don't vote for those right-wing parties is that those right-wing parties don't do a particularly good job at designing policies

to attract young people to vote for them. And they usually focus on older voters. So maybe part of the problem needs to be that they need to look at what they do rather than criticizing lowering the voting age. We will be keeping a keen eye from over here, Andrew, on what happens in the UK. We appreciate your time this morning. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Andrew Mycock is a political scientist who studied voting age reform. He is also chief policy fellow at the University of Leeds. Hey, I'm Jill Deacon and I'm excited to share my new podcast with you. A Love Affair with the Unknown is conversations with smart, funny people navigating life's unknowns with courage and candor, something we could all use during these wildly uncertain times. Me and I started to cry and I realized I haven't dealt with anything. My family's motto was, I'm not going to be able to handle that.

Listen and subscribe to A Love Affair with the Unknown wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every Tuesday. Here in Canada, there is a campaign to lower the voting age and one of the people pushing for it is Jaden Braves. Jaden is 16 years old and he is the founder and CEO of the Young Politicians of Canada, which is a non-partisan youth-run organization. Jaden, good morning. Good morning, Pia. Nice to hear from you.

Nice to have you with us. Make your case. Why do you think Canada should lower the voting age? I think it's silly that I'm still having to make this case. In 2025, when Canada seems to be sitting in the backseat of other countries that are innovating and driving the car faster than we can. And that's quite frankly because we're not following the Constitution right now. Constitution states that citizens in Canada have the right to vote.

Why does that exclude 16 and 17 year olds that are affected by public decisions? Public decisions like school system, healthcare system, 50% of them having a part-time job and paying taxes and yet they're not able to make a democratic elected decision. When you talk to other young people, what reasons do they give you? They say, this is why I want to vote, Jayden, here's why. I think young people feel as if the elected officials that are elected to represent them don't have their best interest. We're looking at the most smoke that Canada's experienced

during the summer. Canadians can't breathe outside. I can't ask one elderly person in Canada if they've ever had this experience in their childhood because they haven't. Those are the same people that, as the former guest on the radio said, they have the right to vote and they might have dementia.

Why are young people not allowed to have that right? Well, climate change is bringing our country into a crisp and we're the ones that are gonna have to legislate on it and inherit what's to come. So when you hear people say, we think 16 is too young and we think we shouldn't lower the voting age, what pushback do you hear

and how do those arguments make you feel? So for one, I hear a lot of kids vote the same as their parents. Specifically 16 and 17-year-olds would vote the same as their parents. That's a nice thought, that 16 and 17-year-olds would follow that pattern and they're not developed enough to make a decision.

But in reality, 80% of adults vote the same way their parents do. So using that refutal of 16 and 17-year-olds not being able to make the decision, it's not valid. As well, I think people don't think young Canadians, 16, 17 year olds have the right to pay, have the right to vote because they're not involved in the public system in the same way. But there's lots of people that are unemployed in Canada that don't, that do have the right to vote that are over the age of 18. And at what point do we look

at our citizens and those that are going to have to deal with the age of 18. And at what point do we look at our citizens and those that are going to have to deal with the decisions of the future and say, yes, they have more than enough competence, awareness, and ability to do so. At 15 years old in Toronto, they're taking the civics course. It's half a course. It's not sufficient. And yes, we have to invest more in civic education and getting our country more literate. But at the same time, there's no greater education that one is expected to have in this country mandated for them to be able to understand the system better. So why shouldn't they be able to vote? Okay, Jayden, I'm going to get you to just hold on for a moment because I want to bring

someone else into our conversation. Mary Lou McFedrin is an independent senator from Manitoba. She has introduced several bills over the years aimed at lowering the voting age here in Canada. Senator, good morning to you. Good morning, Pia. It's nice to have you with us. What do you make of what you've just heard from Jayden?

Jayden is an excellent example of young leaders across this country who know this issue, who know the research, who are very engaged in their communities, in our democracy. And I think that this is one of the best ways of demonstrating why our democracy would be stronger and more resilient if we expanded voting rights to include 16 and 17 year olds. Mary Lou, people might say Jen's a bit of an outlier. He's worked for the UN and NATO. He's super engaged. But the average 16 or 17 year old is not a Jayden and that they're just too young to make these sorts of consequential decisions. To that you say what? To that I say look at the evidence, look at the research. In every country where the voting has been expanded to include 16 and 17 year olds,

nothing bad has happened. This is what the evidence tells us. Most of the arguments against the lowering the voting age, including 16 and 17 year olds, is opinion based, is stereotype based. It's not supported by years and years of research. You've introduced legislation to lower the voting age. So from your fellow parliamentarians, and you've done this a number of times, what do you hear from them? Is this likely to get more traction here at home? Well, I think we are getting more traction in the Senate. I'm the first senator to introduce a bill, but you know, in the House of Commons, it

goes back to 1990 with members of parliament introducing similar bills, and we've had coalitions across party lines. The last time that this was in the House of Commons in the last parliament, we had a substantial number of members of the government party, the Liberal Party, voting for this. It didn't make it to second reading. My previous bill in 2021 did reach the second reading stage, which means it would go to committee and young people and experts would be able to speak directly to the senators about expanding these voting rights.

Right now, I'm feeling very optimistic about going back into the Senate in September. My latest bill has already been tabled. I'll be speaking to it. I have a significant number of senators who are willing to speak in favor of it. And one of the key aspects of this that I really want to emphasize is that I have heard from elders, I have heard from young Indigenous leaders, and I have heard from young Indigenous leaders and I have heard from Indigenous senators that this is a very important change that needs to be made for the inclusion of Indigenous young people in this country. Let me ask both of you this, and Jayden, let me go to you first.

One of the arguments might be with all the issues our country is facing right now, that this is not a significant one. So what do you say to that argument? Well, I'm afraid it's a question a lot of people have. And I think it's very clear that with all of the crazy issues going on in our country, who's better to legislate them and make the decisions of who gets to sit at the table than those that are actually going to have to take on these issues in a matter of years. A lot of the legislation is happening in the House of Commons and throughout Canada, and the actions that are being taken are not actions that are considerate of the future.

Why aren't we making decisions that consider how things are going to look in 10, 15 years? Why is it fair that a 16 and 17 year old that has just the same ability to make a decision as an 18 or 19 year old gets held back from electing somebody that will truly represent their future? So I think when we look at a big whole bunch of daunting issues that we don't realize how much affect the future, we should be allowing those who are the biggest stakeholders in the discussion to have the voice. And Senator McFedrin, for you, if someone says, Senator, we have so many issues, you know what comes across our desks.

This is just one that isn't that big of a deal. What's your argument? Well, I think we need to remember that in 2016, Canada officially became an old country. We have more old people in this country than we have young people. This is not good for democracy. This is a time when democracy is under assault around the world, and we have serious concerns for our own democracy. What the research tells us is that 16 and 17-year-olds, when they vote, turn out in

a significantly higher proportion than what we see with 18-year-olds when they first vote. What we also know is that when you vote young, you vote long. You become engaged in democracy. You become engaged in elections. And this is better for the health of our democracy. I think we need to think of this as a long-term investment for saving democracy in Canada. Jaden, how do you think Canadian democracy might change if we allowed younger people to vote? When I go to class every day

and I speak to my peers about issues, they are widely informed by social media because we do not have a strong enough education on civic literacy in this country. We do not have high enough standards. We don't have a national standard. I see voting rights as an ability to give the priority to making our country civically literate and as the senator says, we clearly know voting young means voting long and if voting young means voting long and bringing political discussion into the classroom

in a constructive manner when you're 16 or you're 17, that is an investment young Canadians will be able to carry with them as they become participatory voters, while they understand participatory democracy. And it's a clear option, and we should not be spending the time and effort thinking about this. It should already be over the line. Senator, there are some people listening who have 16-year-olds at home spending the time and effort thinking about this, it should already be over the line.

Senator, there are some people listening who have 16 year olds at home and say, woof, I don't know, my kid? I don't think they're ready to vote. So I'll give you the last word on this. What do you say to them? I appreciate this very much. And I really want to address the stereotype

of 16 and 17 year olds are only going to trans left in their vote. None of the research, none of the evidence supports that assumption. And the way in which 16 and 17 year olds engage in their schools, in their communities, and the way in which young leaders, even with this kind of opposition to them, insist on contributing to our society. You know, we've got over 35% of 16 and 17 year olds in this country paying taxes already.

And the kind of engagement that seems to make people, some people afraid, that's not borne out by the evidence. And what we also see is we're at the start where there may be a low public opinion about including 16 and 17 year olds in the right to vote. Once it's happening, once they can see what's happening, and by the way, this includes conservative leaders, there is a very significant increase in Scotland. It went up to

60%. Senator McFedrin will have to leave it there. Thank you to you and Jayden, thank you as well. Thank you, Pia. I really appreciate the opportunity. Senator Mary Lou McFedrin is a non-affiliated senator behind Bill S-222 and Jayden Braves is a 16-year-old who is the founder and CEO of Young Politicians of Canada. You've been listening to The Current Podcast. My name is Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening.

I'll talk to you soon. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.