The Guardian view on the voting age: time to lower it to 16 | Editorial

The country looks more and more split between the old and the young. It is undemocratic to continue to deny 16-year-olds the voteGeneral elections give an imprecise account of the complex and contradictory opinions held by tens of millions of people. But every vote is counted even if, under Britain’s first-past-the-post system, votes in some seats count more than in others. The voices that are not heard belong to those who do not vote, and those who cannot.Abstention is not a very effectiv