How will votes at 16 and changes to voter ID work?

The government said the voting age would be reduced to 16 in England before the next general election.

Other planned changes include allowing more voter identity and allowing to move towards the automatic voter record.

Means changes Approximately 1.5 million 16 and 17 years old can vote in the next general electionsIt can only be earlier until 2029.

The government said that the change would give young people the chance to have a say about how England was governed.

Democracy Minister Rushanara Ali, “At the age of 16, a young person can work, pay taxes, can participate in the army. So there is no reason for not having a say that we have a say from that age,” the Minister of Democracy Rushanara said.

The commitment to lower the voting age was in Labour’s 2024 election manifesto.

Since the voter age was reduced from 21 to 18 in 1969, he has represented the biggest change in voters’ makeup.

This means that the 16 -year -old can vote in all elections in the United Kingdom. As in Scotland, young people will be able to register to vote at the age of 14.

The minimum age of vote is already 16 for local council elections in Scotland and Wales and the Galli Parliament and Scottish Parliamentary elections.

However, you need to be 18 years old to vote in the British Parliamentary elections, the local elections in the UK and all elections in Northern Ireland.

You will still have to be 18 years old to stand as a candidate.

In the future, voters say they can prove their identities with a debit card given by the UK.

Voters in England, Scotland and Wales since May 2023 He had to show his valid photo identity To vote personally in all general, local and national elections.

There is currently More than 20 acceptable identity formatPassports, driver licenses, bus crossings and armed forces senior cards.

Anyone who has no valid identity, A voter authority certificate.

However, according to the Election Commission following the British elections, 4% of the people who did not vote in the 2024 general elections were due to voter identity rules.

. Rules are different in Northern Ireland Voters have been forced to show a photo identity since 2003.

The Election Commission estimates that approximately seven million people are incorrectly or missing in the election record. This means they can’t vote.

He says that private tenants and young people are disproportionately affected.

The government wants to create an automatic voter registration plan in the coming years. He says that there will be measures for people to be aware of their registration and to be disabled.

Voters will have to be included in the public open election record. No one under the age of 16 will appear in open records.

The 2023 Election Commission Report may argue that automatic registration may include organizations such as passport office that provides their names and addresses for election registration officers.

Currently, appropriate adults in the UK must register to vote. This Can be done onlineOr using a paper form.

The government wants to change the deadline to apply for a mail game.

It would be moved between 11 and 14 working days before the polling day.

This should make it more likely that people get their ballots on time.

The rules regarding party donations will also be bored. The government said it would help to overcome foreign intervention in the UK elections.

Companies will need sufficient income in England or Ireland to donate.

The parties would have to assess the situation of potential donors before accepting money.

The Election Commission could have fined up to £ 500,000 to those who violate the rules.

The National Students’ Union welcomed the decision to reduce the voting age as “an important moment for democracy”.

Lib DEMS also supported the decision to allow 16 and 17 -year -old children to vote, but the government called on more to fight foreign interventions in the elections.

The conservatives said that the age policy was “desperately confused”, the 16 -year -olds “can not marry, can not enter the war, and even in the elections,” he said.

He also criticized the timing of the announcement. Near summer vacation means that parliament cannot examine the suggestions of the parliament by September.

Reform said that 16 and 17 -year -old children should not be able to vote in the elections they would not be involved in.

For a general election, a parliament can be terminated, on the fifth anniversary of the day he first met.

However, 25 working days are allowed to prepare for the election.

The current parliament began on July 9, so the next general election means that it should be held until August 2029.

However, the Prime Minister may call elections at a time when they choose the king’s official approval within a period of five years.