Last hurdle for votes at 16 in Welsh Assembly elections
Welsh Assembly grants vote to 16 and 17-year-olds
(about 3 hours later)
A law giving 16-year-olds the vote in Welsh Assembly elections will face its final hurdle on Wednesday.
Sixteen and 17-year-olds will be able to take part in the 2021 Welsh Assembly election after a vote by members.
Assembly Members will vote on the Senedd and Elections Bill - 40 out of 60 need to back the law for it to pass.
Legislation overhauling assembly elections will give the vote to 103,000 more people, with the franchise also extended to foreign nationals.
It will add about 70,000 16 and 17-year-olds to the vote - the biggest extension to the franchise in Wales for 50 years.
The assembly will also be renamed Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament as part of the changes.
Another 33,000 foreign nationals will also get the right to vote in Senedd polls.
The law was passed on a knife-edge by 41 assembly members, just exceeding the two-thirds majority of 40 votes needed.
The bill will also give the assembly two names - Senedd Cymru and Welsh Parliament - after a row about what the institution should be called.
While Labour and Plaid Cymru backed the bill, the Conservatives and Brexit Party opposed it.
AMs will be renamed as Members of the Senedd.
The decision was backed with the help of Presiding Officer Elin Jones and Deputy Presiding Officer Ann Jones, who do not normally take part in Senedd votes.
If passed 16 and 17-year-olds will be able to vote for the first time in Wales at the Senedd elections in 2021.
Elin Jones said the law will "empower young people to participate in the democratic process".
Votes from Plaid Cymru, Labour backbench AMs and government ministers should be enough to get the bill through the 40-member threshold needed.
"This bill, in my view, will create a more inclusive, diverse and effective Senedd," she said.
The assembly was given the power over the institution's own affairs, including elections in 2017, as long as two-thirds of the members agree to any changes.
But the inclusion of votes for foreign nationals, following Welsh Government amendments earlier in the process, upset the Conservatives despite some having backed votes for 16-year-olds.
The Welsh Government has separate plans to extend the electorate who can vote in the next council elections. The assembly's name would be due to change in May 2020.
Former Tory group leader Andrew RT Davies called it a "stitch-up" by the "left-wing political establishment".
Lowering the voting age to 16 has been a long-term ambition for many assembly members - back in 2013 they voted 41 for, five against, for the principle of giving 16-year-olds the vote at council elections.
The changes will come into effect at the next assembly election, while the assembly's name will change in May 2020.
Will 16-year-olds vote?
Will 16-year-olds vote?
Tabitha Anthony, 18, is studying for A-Levels in Tondu near Bridgend and plans to vote Conservative. She said she did not think 16-year-olds "would be mature enough to do their own research".
Tabitha Anthony, 18, is studying for A-Levels in Tondu near Bridgend and plans to vote Conservative. She said she did not think 16-year-olds "would be mature enough to do their own research".
"There are a handful of people in my school who are 18 and are able to vote but they're not politically aware enough," she said.
"There are a handful of people in my school who are 18 and are able to vote but they're not politically aware enough," she said before Wednesday's vote.
"I've heard in our common room lots of people discussing politics, but they're trying to describe and explain the different policies to each other when really you're just hearing the propaganda that's being spread."
"I've heard in our common room lots of people discussing politics, but they're trying to describe and explain the different policies to each other when really you're just hearing the propaganda that's being spread."
Lara Evans, 19, from Tredegar, said she "100%" would have voted at 16. "I think 16 is a completely responsible age to give people the vote," the politics student said.
Lara Evans, 19, from Tredegar, said she "100%" would have voted at 16. "I think 16 is a completely responsible age to give people the vote," the politics student said.
The Plaid Cymru supporter added: "If people feel that they don't want to vote at 16 then they don't have to vote because the likelihood is if you're not interested in politics - maybe you don't feel you align with any party or strongly enough.
The Plaid Cymru supporter added: "If people feel that they don't want to vote at 16 then they don't have to vote because the likelihood is if you're not interested in politics - maybe you don't feel you align with any party or strongly enough.
"That's the same whether you're 16 or a lot older… it depends how involved you are in politics rather than what your age is."
"That's the same whether you're 16 or a lot older… it depends how involved you are in politics rather than what your age is."
Geraint Williams, 19, from Cardiff, said: "Young people are definitely more engaged in politics."
Geraint Williams, 19, from Cardiff, said: "Young people are definitely more engaged in politics."
The musical theatre student, who is undecided but leaning towards Labour, added: "We're realising that it's our future and we are the future generation and that we have the opportunity to make the final decision."
The musical theatre student, who is undecided but leaning towards Labour, added: "We're realising that it's our future and we are the future generation and that we have the opportunity to make the final decision."
Assembly Presiding Officer Elin Jones said last year that lowering the voting age to 16 would give young people "a stronger voice in the future of our nation".
But the proposals do not have unanimous support across the chamber.
Conservative AM Darren Millar has been among those opposing extending the franchise - in a previous debate he said "many 16 and 17-year-olds simply do not feel confident enough to make decisions about who runs their country".
His amendments did not win unified support across his own group, but the Conservatives are planning to vote against the bill.
Tory AM David Melding told the assembly earlier this month that if the extension to the franchise for Senedd elections for foreign nationals remained in the bill then the group is "probably going to be whipped" to vote against the bill.
He said it was a "very poor form of legislating". "I remain extremely frustrated by the ramshackle way in which the Welsh Government is forcing through such substantial changes to our electoral system in Wales," he said.
What about changing the Welsh Assembly's name?
For some time assembly members have wanted to rename the institution, in part to recognise its larger role in Welsh life in making laws.
The original bill, tabled by the assembly itself, had proposed changing the name to Senedd, but also said the institution could be known as the Welsh Parliament.
It failed to satisfy Labour ministers, who thought the wording was confusing, and amendments by former first minister Carwyn Jones backing a bilingual name passed with Welsh Government support in October.
Meanwhile there was a push for a clearer Welsh-only name - Senedd - from Plaid Cymru. The party argued the word already transcended language barriers, but despite some Labour support the bid was unsuccessful.
Senedd, which is already the name of the building that houses the assembly debating chamber, is the Welsh word for parliament.
Carwyn Jones himself said he would call the institution Senedd, but claimed it was not clear everyone understood the word. He argued his amendments made it clear in law that Senedd Cymru meant the Welsh Parliament.
Plaid Cymru AM Rhun ap Iorwerth said his party had been successful in ensuring AMs in the future "will be known as Aelod o'r Senedd/Member of the Senedd".
"So, in effect, we've won the debate on what the institution will be called from today," he said.
Presiding Officer Elin Jones and Deputy Presiding Officer Ann Jones do not usually vote but will be able to for this bill.
The Brexit Party is also voting against the bill.
Brexit Party group leader Mark Reckless said: "While we would like the assembly to adopt a bilingual name with Welsh Parliament being the English version, we cannot support the franchise changes proposed."
