麻豆社

In Tricky, panellists come together to discuss important and sometimes contentious issues – nothing is off-limits, and everyone has the chance to be heard.

The first two episodes of this series discuss voting, as six young people consider the impact of the vote: Do our votes even matter? And if they do, should the voting system be reformed? Would it be better to lower the voting age to 16, or maybe even increase it?

Here’s what Alistair, Charlie, David, Dominique, Emily and Iona have to say.

Emily Hewertson, a student at King’s College London, asked her fellow panellists whether they vote for the person or the policy. For Dominique Samuels, who studies at the University of York, it’s a combination of the two. “Particularly, I think, in UK politics, it’s become much more presidential,” she says, “to the point where it’s much more focused on the leader and the attributes they have.”

Dominique Samuels

While Dominique explained that she “never really liked Boris Johnson”, she still voted for the Conservatives because “the policy was Brexit, and I felt as though because of that policy initiative, and some of the other things as well, that was the best place to place my vote.” While she might err towards voting in terms of policy, Dominique believes personality is still important: “I think a leader should be able to connect with people and resonate with them to a certain extent. Whether or not politicians always do that is questionable.”

Alistair Heather, a writer from Angus in Scotland, explains that his motivation depends on the level of the election. “When it’s local councils, you’ll almost certainly have a good idea of who the person is that’s running for the council. Although some are affiliated to parties, I’m much more likely to vote on what policy they’re suggesting and what I know of the person themselves, the fabric of the person. When it comes to national elections, it’s 100 percent policy based.”

David Chukwujekwu, a creative director from Glasgow, tends to vote for “someone smaller or independent”. He says, “I don’t like politics, I don’t like politicians, I don’t like political parties, so for me it’s not about the person, per say. The driver [for major political parties] is policy, whereas for me, I’m very much about the moral. Once you’re part of the big political machine, it becomes very difficult to separate what is purely policy driven, and [who] actually cares about the people. We should elect people that want to make the lives of the people around them better, not want to elevate the status of the parties or themselves.” Alistair agrees: “Political parties can be so constraining… because they are kind of ideological constructs, ideological corporations, they don’t echo the sentiments of normal people that well.”

The simple answer for Alistair is: yes. “At times your vote matters massively. In North East Fife, in the 2017 election, the guy that won it won by two votes, and he said that his wife almost didn’t make it up to the voting booth in time.

Alistair Heather

"They almost drew a card for who got to be the MP for the area because the vote was that close. Your vote can really, really count.”

Dominique agrees, but can see how people in constituencies which firmly back one political party may feel disillusioned, or as though an opposing vote is futile. Emily thinks that even in a stronghold, your vote counts: “It can have some influence, for example it can show certain trends. And also, there’s a valuable opportunity in strongholds, where you might not feel that your vote counts as much, where you can go along the protest voting lines.”

Emily suggests that even if the leading party is the one you support, you could “support a different party to convey how you’re feeling as a traditional supporter of that party.” She also thinks the idea of spoiling your ballot should be popularised, she says “I think that’s a really powerful message in itself.”

David can see why people might want to spoil their ballot but says he would rather give his vote to a smaller party. He stresses the importance of exercising your right to vote, even if you think you can’t change the outcome.

The group had differing views about the most effective way of allocating our votes. Reflecting on our current system, Emily says: “Ultimately, in the UK we do have a system where people are supposed to vote for a party. We don’t elect a Prime Minister in this country. I think we forget that, with the American influence that has plagued, or influenced, British politics.”

Emily Hewertson

Alistair considers how the Scottish system differs. He says: “At Holyrood, we have a system whereby it’s designed to try and prevent majority governments, it’s designed to try and produce minority governments which then have to engage with other parties and form cross-party support. In Holyrood you see a lot more discussion, you see a lot more discourse and, hopefully, you see a lot more respect and cooperation between parties.”

Emily disputes this: “As a country we favour strong majority governments. If you look at other European countries that do push more of a PR system, they have a lot of elections that don’t actually last their full term. And you have a lot of deadlocks as well on issues. Deadlock can have a bad effect on democracy; is that something we really want to head to in the UK?”

An alternative idea

David proposes a radical solution. “One of the things we could think about is, if we worked more along the lines of referendums, having people’s votes carry different weights depending how related they are to that situation. Everyone then, in different situations, has that agency. The point that I’m making is that we need to be thinking about these, let’s say ‘stupid’ conceptual ideas, because that’s the only way the world’s going to change. If you don’t think about the left field conceptual ideas, we continue in the same voting system where everyone’s kind of unhappy.”

While we’re considering how the political system could be shaken up, would a lower voting age help young people to feel better represented? In Scotland and Wales, 16-year-olds are already allowed to vote in local elections and for the devolved parliaments.

Iona Lee

Iona Lee, a poet, musician and illustrator based in Glasgow, voted for the first time when she was 16, in the first Scottish independence referendum. “It was certainly a decision that was going to impact me, and therefore I think it was entirely right that I had a say in it,” she reflects.

“Having my first vote happen when I was 16 did mean that everyone at my school, at my age, got really invested in politics at a young age. Voting is a habitual thing that you do. The fact that we were all involved in this big election very young, I think, has made my generation of Scottish young people very active in politics in a way that I don’t know that we would have been if it hadn’t been for voting at 16.” Iona continues: “it’s somewhat cynical to suggest that they [young people] shouldn’t in some way be leading any kind of charge because it is a world that will be left to them."

Emily suggests that 18 is about the right age. “I think a political education is an important part in voting. It’s important to be informed – there is a balanced approach needed. Most people start getting interested in politics at 16, so it leads the way ready to vote at 18.”

Charlie Peters, a writer and journalist from London, actually believes the voting age is too low. “I think that voting should always be tied to when people generally enter adulthood. I think in the last few generations we’ve been seeing the start of adulthood rise quite significantly. More and more people are delaying adulthood and are enjoying an extended adolescence. I think political rights, in terms of when you can vote, should really be attached to when you enter that form of society.”

Charlie Peters

Iona disagrees: “‘Delaying’ implies an active participation. I don’t think ‘delaying’ is necessarily the right word. I think it is a thing that is happening to the youth, as much as they are making it happen.”

David also thinks we should consider numerous factors when discussing this "extended adolescence", and wonders whether the restrictions on voting age should be the opposite of what Charlie suggests. David questions: “If adolescence disqualifies you in any sort of way from voting, then for what reason does old age not? At the end of the day, [older people] are not voting on a world that affects their future.”

Charlie believes that the lived experience of older generations qualifies them to make an informed vote, and suggests that “stewardship, and caring for a society, even if you’re not going to live in it, is a good thing.”

What do you think? Are young people more politically informed than they’re being given credit for? Should we overhaul our voting system to encompass a younger electorate? Or do our votes not even count? Join the discussion on Twitter with the hashtag #麻豆社Tricky.