Hansard

I echo the comments of Annabelle Ewing and others in support of the clerks and all who have worked on the bill to get it to the stage at which it will be passed shortly by Parliament. I also support Annabelle Ewing’s comments about Bruce Crawford, who has competently and ably chaired the committee and kept all of us rowdy MSPs under control, which is a challenge at times.

As Patricia Ferguson, Patrick Harvie and others have said, we are passing a significant piece of legislation. The bill is part of the process as we move towards the referendum in September 2014. It will extend the franchise to 16 and 17-year-olds, which I know will excite many young people throughout Scotland; it will undoubtedly encourage them to participate in the referendum. I am sure that people on both sides of the debate agree that we hope that, post the referendum—whatever the result—the young people who participated in it will be more motivated to take part in the political process in the future. The quality of the young people who gave evidence to the committee reinforces the view of the many who support the extension of the franchise.

Annabel Goldie raised important points about awareness raising and the role of schools. When I talk to young people who are coming up to the age of 16 and who will vote in the referendum, I find that they are very excited about the prospect. To an extent, they also find it quite daunting, in that they have a big decision to make. There is a quest for more information, not just about the process but about the politics on the two sides of the argument. It is important that we raise awareness and that provision is made for information to be supplied in schools. That process should be properly controlled and the information should be appropriately balanced.

As others have said, the legislative process has been accelerated. I am not often a great fan of that, but I acknowledge that it was necessary in this case. As the Deputy First Minister pointed out, the annual canvass will start in the autumn. Never has a canvass been so important; we must ensure that not just 16 and 17-year-olds but as many people as possible are registered to take part in this important vote on the future of Scotland. It is important that the correct processes are put in place. Electoral registration officers have an extremely important role to play in making available the right forms and information.

It was interesting that Annabel Goldie mentioned the NUS briefing. Students will present a big issue, because many will leave home for the first time in around September 2014 and might do so without registering for postal votes. Therefore, the process of proxy vote registration and rolling registration is important. We must ensure that those young people are aware of the options that are available to them if they move to a college or university that is some distance away from where they currently live, because we want as many people as possible to be registered to vote.

A concern that many people had about the bill related to data protection issues and the potential for data to be published on young people who have not reached the age of 16. However, the committee has done a robust job of checking the processes. People can be reassured by the final product that the Government has produced and the feed-in that the committee has had, which will ensure that young people are properly looked after as far as data protection is concerned.

I do not want to rerun the debate on prisoners voting, although I say to Alison McInnes that it was an important debate to have. There has undoubtedly been a lot of discussion of the issue, and I welcome—[Interruption.] Were you advising me to wind up, Presiding Officer?