Professor Colin Harvey:

First, I would like to keep the focus on the specific issue we are talking about with this Bill, that is, presidential voting rights and extending the franchise. However, we are essentially talking about inclusion. There are proposals to move to a more inclusive system that embraces all citizens on a generous basis. As such, extending the franchise where age is concerned is a highly topical issue. Allowing people below the age of 18 to contribute to that conversation would be in the spirit of inclusion. Looking back, there have been siren songs about the implications of taking every step on the journey towards making the franchise more inclusive. We are talking about broadening the scope of the franchise in presidential elections. I am strongly in favour of examining voting age. Although the focus today is primarily on residency, age restrictions are also very much a live issue.

Brexit has been a major contributor to an enhanced focus on citizenship rights and identity in the past three years. The advice of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in 2008, nearly 11 years ago, had already identified that this was missing from domestic law, policy and practice in Britain. There were voices pointing out that some core provisions of the agreement concerning parity of esteem, mutual respect and equal treatment were not fully and faithfully reflected in domestic law, policy and practice. Recent events have underlined that. It takes courageous individuals making a stand and bringing an issue to public attention, with all the difficulties that involves, to ensure that what is known in a smaller circle becomes more widely known. Then we can think about how that can be changed.