Britain can give the right to voting to the youth of 16 and 17, opponents said- try to spoil the electoral balance

The British government has made a big announcement on Thursday (July 18, 2025). The British government has announced that Britain will now give the rights to the youth of 16 and 17 years of age to cast their votes in elections. The government has described this announcement as a historic step for democracy. At the same time, some opponents have termed this move of the government as an attempt to spoil the electoral balance.

The population of Bitraine is around 68 million (about 6.8 crore), out of which the total number of youths of 16 and 17 years is more than 1.6 million (16 lakh). However, the government is seeing this scheme as the biggest expansion of voting rights after decades. Earlier, it was decided to reduce the age of voting at the national level from 21 years to 18 years in Britain.

Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayanar wrote in the preface of this announcement, “The decreasing trust in our institutions and democracy has now become a serious situation, but it is the responsibility of the government to change this situation and make our democracy alive again. Just as our earlier generations have done.”

This scheme of the British government involves tightening the rules of political parties getting foreign donations and to make the process of voter registration extremely easy.

In which countries 16-year-old youth can vote,

It is noteworthy that Britain will not be the first country in the world to give voting right to youth of 16 and 17 years. There are many countries in the world where youths of 16 and 17 have been given the right to vote. Austria, Malta and Brazil are among the countries where 16 -year -old youth can vote, while the minimum age of voting in Greece has been fixed at 17 years.

However, there are some countries in the world where 16 -year -old youth have been given the right to participate in some special elections, such as Germany and Belgium. In these two countries, 16 -year -old youth can vote in the election of members of European Parliament, but they have not been given the right to vote in the federal elections of the country.

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