CITY of York Council is calling on Parliament to lower the voting age to 16.
Councillors overwhelmingly backed a motion by 21-year-old Fulford councillor Keith Aspden last night to support calls by councils in Norfolk, Leeds and Liverpool to lower the voting age.
Coun Aspden, the youngest councillor in the country, said: "Not letting 16 and 17- year-olds express their views through the ballot box gives the impression to young people and the rest of society that young people's views are either not valid or not as valid as the views of older citizens."
Coun Janet Looker compared arguments against reducing the voting age to those used to deny 18-year-olds and women the vote.
The views of the council will now be passed on to the Electoral Commission.
Updated: 11:27 Wednesday, September 10, 2003
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