Alliance Youth has today launched a new campaign aimed at ensuring 16 year olds have the right to vote in both local Government and Assembly elections across Northern Ireland.
Unveiling the petition during Queen’s University’s Freshers’ fair, the Alliance Party’s active youth wing said it was time to put votes at 16 back on the agenda in Northern Ireland.
Fia Cowan, Alliance Youth Vice-Chair, said: “Launching our petition at QUB’s Freshers’ Fair has today given us a chance to hear the views of young people and public bodies alike, at the heart of higher education in Northern Ireland.
“Following the devolution of power to lower the voting age in Scotland it’s time to bring votes at 16 back onto the agenda here.
“Scottish 16-year-olds have the vote, Welsh 16-year-olds will by 2018 – but young people in Northern Ireland are being left behind. Through our petition we will be directly calling OFMdFM to action and we’ll be working alongside our Alliance teams at both local and Assembly level.”
Alliance QUB Co-Chair Neidin Hendron added: “Throughout today we’ll be gathering as many signatures as possible, but this is only the start of Alliance Youth’s campaign. This is a basic issue of fairness to many people, especially students, and we will work hard to deliver our goal.”
- To sign the petition, please go to http://stepforward.allianceparty.org/votes_at_16