- Conference
- 2014 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 6 February 2014
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes a General Election must take place before 6 May 2015.
Conference welcomes the British Youth Council’s decision to prioritise “Votes@16” as its main campaign this year, and that 16 and 17 year olds have been enfranchised for the Scottish independence referendum (18 September 2014).
Conference reaffirms its policy that the franchise in all national and local elections should be extended to 16 and 17 year olds. Conference notes the case is now so well established, that of the mainstream political parties only the Conservatives are actively opposed to it.
Conference is concerned that too many young people are not registered to vote, especially young black people, and welcomes the work of Operation Black Vote to encourage black voter registration.
Conference also believes that appropriate political education should be used as part of our work to encourage registration and voting.
Conference agrees to:
1)Encourage support for the Votes@16 campaign;
2)Call for all mainstream political parties to include in their manifestos an explicit commitment to extend the franchise to 16 and 17 year olds;
3)Promote a young voter registration drive, and consider joint work with Operation Black Vote to encourage young Black people to register and vote;
4)Seek and/or develop appropriate political education to support this work.