CHILDREN and young people’s voices must be heard on plans would could see 16 and 17-year-olds in Wales given the vote, a Welsh minister has said.

A consultation into plans by the Welsh Government to revamp local authority elections, including lowering the voting age to 16, introducing electronic voting and introducing proportional representation, will close on Tuesday, October 10.

And finance and local government secretary mark Drakeford said it is important young people take part in order to ensure the Welsh Government has the widest possible range of opinions before moving forward with the plans.

“The Welsh Government wants to make it easier to vote and easier to be entitled to vote at council elections,” he said.

“As I’ve said before there’s no reason why 16 and 17 year olds can marry, pay taxes and join the army but can’t vote in our elections.

“Equally, there’s no reason why, in the 21st century, we can carry out all sorts of daily transactions online but can’t, as of yet, vote online.

“I can’t stress how important it is for us to listen to and involve children and young people in this conversation.

“Ultimately we want to see as many people as possible coming out to vote at council elections and having their say on the issues that will affect them.”

To take part in the consultation visit gov.wales/consultations