At the Scottish Nationalist Party's (SNP) 73rd annual conference at the Macdonald Aviemore Highland Resort, between Friday 26th to Sunday 28th October, the Young Scots for Independence (YSI) resolution was unanimously supported by SNP delegates.

The resolution read:
"Conference re-affirms the party's long standing support for reducing the voting age to 16 years old, an age where a young adult can get married, form a civil partnership, have children, pay tax, join the armed forces and much more but cannot vote.

Conference calls on the Westminster Parliament to remove this reserved power from the Scotland Act to allow the Scottish Government full control over voting rights in Scottish local government elections."

The motion follows a ruling by the Austrian state Governments' Council of Ministers earlier this year to lower the voting age to 16 years – a decision that was supported by the EFAy. Speaking at the time, EFAy Bureau Member and representative of Junge Sudtiroler Freiheit (from Sud Tirol), Reinhild Campidell commented:

"It is only fair to give young people the right to vote. At 16, they are old enough to take responsibility for their home and future, if that decision is given to them. Young people must be given the opportunity to tackle politics earlier and in doing so politics will become more interesting and more concerned with youth issues.

Lowering the voting age guarantees that an interest in the youth and young people will be strengthened."

Click here to see the video from YSI National Organiser David Linden, who presented the resolution at Conference