Youth today are advocating for their communities and a better world, leading movements, engaging their peers, and fighting for their rights. Currently the Senate of Canada is debating the “Vote16” Bill S-222, that would expand voting rights in federal elections to include 16 and 17 year old citizens. Independent Senator Marilou McPhedran sponsors this Bill as a way to provide to Canadian youth a voice in the laws and institutions that shape their lives. 

       When we look at what people already do at age sixteen, we find a list of responsibilities that require them to be mature and well informed: driving, working, paying taxes, and starting to plan for life after high school. They already make decisions that affect others and that will have an impact on the future. Deciding who to vote for isn't much of a stretch from the informed decisions they make when choosing the kinds of lives they want to lead. 

       First, in UNICEF Canada's submission on why the national voting age should be expanded, they bring a legal argument, citing the Convention on the Rights of the Child in Article 12: "States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child." Since many of the decisions that governments make affect the daily lives of youth in the workplace, in the planning of their futures, and their political participation, they should have a say in who makes those decisions. 

       Second, a person's cognitive capacity for logical and moral reasoning - like voting - matures by sixteen, largely because the relevant brain regions have been fully developed by this point. These cognitive abilities come years before the maturation of brain systems for more impulsive, more peer-pressured activity that we normally associate young people with, like partying, maintaining relationships and so on. 16-year-olds' ability to reason maturely is precisely why many researchers, including Laurence Steinberg, a world-leading expert on adolescent psychology, favour expanding voting rights. Students are in a learning environment giving them the opportunity to learn how to make informed decisions when they vote, to get information on different political party platforms and to learn the voting process before they actually participate in an election. Many polls are in or near to schools, making it a prime opportunity for students to vote given their proximity to polling stations. By voting at an early age, with the proper skills, there is also a greater likelihood that those students will  build a habit and continue to vote in future elections. We say: “If you vote young, you vote long.” 

        Austria extended voting rights to 16 and 17 year olds back in 2007, joined by many other countries such as Scotland, Ecuador, Argentina, Brazil, and soon the United Kingdom. International academic research demonstrates that overall, voting at sixteen generated more support for democracy. Younger voters tend to participate to a greater extent than expected. In some countries they were more engaged than 18-24 year olds, as was the case in the Scottish referendum. Greater voter participation prompted the current UK government to expand voting rights in the next federal election to include 16 and 17 year old's. 

       If you agree that Canada should lower the voting age to 16, please help us get there. There’s a lot you can do (see vote16.ca) such as signing this petition!