Scotland moves to permanently include 16 and 17-year-old voters

The House of Commons will be asked to support Scotland's bid to permanently enfranchise 16 and 17-year-old voters later today.

MPs in Westminster will be asked to support measures which would allow Holyrood to determine the age of voters in future Scottish Parliament elections. The measures have already been given the green light by David Cameron.

Members of the Scottish Parliament are understood to be overwhelmingly in favour of the inclusion of 16 and 17-year-olds in the franchise. However, the process of lowering the voting age will not be complete in time for the 2015 election.

On 18 September 2014, around 85% of eligible Scots turned out to vote in the country's independence referendum, which the pro-unionists won narrowly with 55%.

A total of 71% of voters aged between 16 and 17 voted for independence, while 48% of 18 to 24-year-olds opted for the union break.

Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats promised Scots that they would grant the country more devolved powers if they voted against independence.

In the immediate aftermath of the vote, UK Prime Minister David Cameron voiced his opposition to allowing people under the age of 18 to vote, but later conceded that it was appropriate for Scotland to decide on the matter.

"The PM made clear that he wants to work with the first minister, forging even stronger ties between our governments and our parliaments and working together on the big issues for the future of Scotland and the United Kingdom," said a Downing Street spokesperson, after Cameron had a meeting with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in December.

Sturgeon added: "I have come out of the meeting very confident that we will get the devolution of power to extend the franchise to 16 and 17-year-olds in time for that to happen for the 2016 election."