Young voters should be required to vote first time round

Voting should be compulsory for your first election, according to a new report co-authored by a University of Glasgow academic and to be published by the think tank IPPR next month. Last week, Labour announced that they will drop the voting age to 16 if elected in 2015, and it has been reported that Shadow Lord Chancellor Sadiq Khan is considering making first time voting compulsory. Under IPPR's plan, young voters would be required to go to the polling station to vote and would face a small fine if they didn't. But IPPR also proposes that they would be given a 'none of the above' option, so they would not be forced to vote for a party. The report warns that lowering the voting age without making voting in your first election compulsory could actually make turnout inequality between the young and old even worse. The report shows that Britain has one of the largest differences in voter turnout between young and old people in Europe. These trends are reflected in local elections where it is estimated that in 2013 only 32% of 18-24 year olds voted, compared with 72% of those aged over 65.