Let's follow Scotland's example, let's lower the voting age to 16

Many around the world are lauding Scotland for the way they handled their independence referendum which ended with a no-vote on Thursday: The rules for campaigning were fair, the debates were respectful and the question was clear.

There’s another reason and another lesson the international community should heed.

Maybe it’s time for our respective countries to lower the minimum voting age.

The Scots allowed 16 and 17 year olds to register to vote in this referendum — 109,533 of them did. According to reports, both the pro-Union and pro-independence camps sent teacher-resource kits to the schools which in-turn were used to organize in-class debates.

It paid off — students were engaged. Total voter turnout is pegged at approximately 85 per cent meaning that this demographic turned-out in big numbers.

[ Related: Scottish-Canadians weigh rejection of Scotland independence ]

Conversely, in Canada — and most of the western world — youth voter turnout rates are simply pathetic.

During the 2008 federal election, voter turnout of 18 and 24-year-olds was a paltry 37 per cent, compared to the national turnout rate of 57 per cent.

Despite a concerted effort by Elections Canada, universities and student associations, things didn’t change much in 2011: Total voter turnout was 61.1 per cent while youth voter turnout edged-up to just 38.8 per cent.

In 2005, Liberal MP Mark Holland introduced a private members bill which, if passed, would have lowered the voting age to 16. At the time, he argued that if you could engage high school students, those youth voter turnout rates would increase.

"I think that reducing the voting age to 16 represents an incredible opportunity. It represents an opportunity to engage youth while they are still in a general education environment," Holland said in a House of Commons debate about his bill.

"By the time they get to 18, they are often disengaged, and often they can be 20 or even 21 before they get to vote for that first time. By then, they are often disengaged and they are not in a general education environment any more. Their patterns have already been established. This has been shown time and time again."

According to CIVIX, an organization whose mission it is to turn Canada’s young people into politically engaged citizens, says that reaching the students at school is the crucial element.

As an organization we haven’t taken a side on lowering the voting age but celebrate the discussion,” Taylor Gunn, the non-profit’s president, told Yahoo Canada News.

"Whether it is lowered or not here in canada, there must be a continued emphasis on non-partisan civic education in schools. That would become more important if the voting age were lowered."

[ Related: MPs to visit high school classrooms during Canada’s Democracy Week ]

Currently, a 16 year old can vote — with no exceptions — in Austria, Nicaragua, Brazil and Ecuador.

And according to experts, those examples prove that 16 and 17 year old teenagers are equally as competent to vote as young adults.

"Results from Austria show, that turnout of 16 and 17 year olds is in fact higher than turnout of older first time voters, and it is nearly as high as overall turnout," Eva Zeglovits, from the University of Vienna wrote for an on-line debate.

"Moreover, although teenage voters are still less interested than adult voters, they are able to make an informed choice. The congruence between attitudes and the vote choice of teenage voters is comparable to adult voters. Austrian teenage voters seem to be mature enough to participate and to make a meaningful vote choice."

We now have the experience of Scotland which, in a lot of peoples opinion, went well.

"In my observation of the commentary on the Scottish campaign and results, the participation of 16 and 17 year olds was often noted favourably, and many of them obviously did vote," Carleton University political scientist Jon Pammett told Yahoo.

"I…think it would be a good idea, and I think that the Scottish success… will give some impetus to the idea in other countries, like Canada."

(Photo courtesy of The Canadian Press)

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