A Youth Voice Network for Scotland

2023 – Present

About the project

On behalf of the Electoral Commission, Children in Scotland is running the Youth Voice Network for Scotland. This group is working to increase the knowledge and understanding of democracy and politics amongst young people, while supporting consistency in political education. The project is running from October 2023 until 2026, with the group meeting around four times per year. The group review programmes created by the Electoral Commission and presenting new ideas for projects they develop. The group will create resources for the UK Parliament general election and the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.

Scottish Parliament Elections 2026

The Scottish Parliament Election in 2026 has provided many members of the Youth Voice Network their first opportunity to cast their vote in a national election. To support other young people in Scotland make use of their vote, the group helped design and create graphics and videos to promote young people’s right to vote on social media.

They also created a school or youth group resource helping young people to make use of the information available to them to help them decide who to vote for. This can be accessed in the resources tab at the bottom of the page.

Welcome to Your Vote Week 2026

Welcome to Your Vote Week took place Monday 9 March to Sunday 15 March 2026. The campaign from The Electoral Commission, and supported by the Youth Voice Network for Scotland, celebrated democracy through activities that help young people understand how it works and how to get involved.

Ahead of Welcome to Your Vote Week 2026, Members of the Youth Voice Network for Scotland went out and about to ask young people about why democracy and voting matters.

Past work

2024 General Election

Ahead of the registration deadline, members of the group created fantastic resources encouraging people to register to vote in the 2024 General Election. Download video.

Welcome To Your Vote Week 2025

The Youth Voice Network for Scotland helped to celebrate and raise awareness of the Welcome To Your Vote Week campaign 2025 which encourages young people across the UK to get involved and learn about voting and democracy.

The Youth Voice Network helped to set the theme for this year’s campaign – ‘Get Informed and Get Involved’. The theme encouraged young people to seek out information from reliable sources about how to vote and who you want to vote for.

Members of the Youth Voice Network helped to develop social media content, school posters and lesson plans to support Welcome To Your Vote Week.

Meeting Alison Thewliss

To mark Welcome To Your Vote week, the Youth Voice Network arranged an online meeting with former MP for Glasgow Central, Alison Thewlis.

The group asked Alison questions about what it’s like being an MP, the role of young people in elected politics and why accessible and reliable information is important to all voters in the UK.

Making our voices heard briefing

This briefing gathers the views of Youth Voice Network for Scotland members.

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Join the Youth Voice Network for Scotland

We are currently looking for young people to join the Electoral Commission’s Youth Voice Network.

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Snakes & ladders game for school and youth groups

This learning resource was created by the Youth Voice Network for Scotland, a group of young people who share their views and ideas about ways to get more young people engaged in democracy and voting in the 2026 Scottish Parliament elections. It encourages young people to think creatively about some of the ways that they can have their voice heard in decisions made about Scotland – and some of the things that get in the way of having their voices heard but can be overcome.

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Political education lesson plan for schools: making informed decisions about voting

Members of the Youth Voice Network for Scotland have designed a lesson plan to help S5 and S6 pupils understand who they are voting for when they go to the polling station, by allowing them to review a series of policies endorsed by three fictional political parties and decide which they support and which they do not.

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Welcome to Your Vote Week 2026

This pack of resources from The Electoral Commission contains a range of social media graphics to promote the campaign and raise awareness among young people on their voting rights and other ways to get involved. It also contains lesson plans, short activities, and posters to help spread awareness in schools and other education and youth-focused settings.

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Elections 2026 resources

In 2026, to support other young people in Scotland make use of their vote, the group helped design and create graphics and videos to promote young people’s right to vote on social media. These were used on Children in Scotland’s social media channels in the run up to the election, receiving positive engagement from both young people and professionals across the sector.

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