B.C. Green Party leader Andrew Weaver has introduced a bill to extend voter rights in the province to 16 and 17-year-olds. File photo. (Mike McArthur/CBC News)
B.C. Green Party leader and Oak Bay-Gordon Head MLA Andrew Weaver is making another attempt to lower the legal voting age in the province.
For the third time, Weaver has introduced a Private Member’s bill to extend voting rights to 16 and 17-year-olds.
“Young British Columbians should have a say in the direction we’re headed, as they will inherit the world we leave behind,” Weaver said on Twitter Tuesday morning regarding the bill.
In a statement, Weaver cited voting rights in Scotland, Argentina, Austria and Brazil have been extended to 16-year-olds.
“Evidence from those jurisdictions shows that enfranchising these young voters has led to substantially higher levels of political participation,” Weaver said.
Elections B.C. reported an increase in younger voters in the 2017 B.C. election, with 51.7 per cent turnout of registered voters under the age of 45.
That’s compared to 45.1 per cent under 45 that cast ballots in 2013.
Weaver added, “research shows the cognitive skills required to make calm, logically informed decisions are firmly in place by age 16.”
Andy Neal
