From 2021, 16 and 17-year-olds in Wales will be able to vote in Assembly and council elections.
The Senedd and Elections Bill was passed by Assembly Members in November last year. Under the new law, the Welsh Assembly will also be renamed Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament.
But the really significant shift is to allow 16 and 17-year-olds the vote – but what do those affected by the change make of it?
Caerphilly Youth Forum chair Imogen Reyez, 16, from Cwmfelinfach, found out about the news on Twitter.
She said: “I was really impressed because I know that Caerphilly have really been pushing for it for many years. The idea has been thrown around a lot so it was kind of a 50/50 chance.
“It is good to see that young people have a voice. It is another opportunity for us to have a say on our future.”
Claire Jones, who manages the youth forum project, said: “We signed up to support the UK-wide initiative to vote at 16. It has never been voted as a specific priority but people have supported it.
“When there has been consultation for what should be discussed in the House of Commons, when votes at 16 have been on the ballot, there has been a big response from Caerphilly young people.”
However, not everyone was in favour of the new law. South Wales East AM Mark Reckless, who represents the Brexit Party, was against votes for 16-year-olds and believes 18 should be the cut-off point.
Mr Reckless says he does “not want to see schools politicised”.
However, Imogen disagrees with Mr Reckless’ view and told Caerphilly Observer: “I don’t think that it makes schools more political because you go there to learn. It will be just an aspect of Year 11 when you get to vote. I think it is good to have debate.”
She added: “We think there should be political education because we still need to be educated on it, and not just through social media.
“And I think that everyone should be educated of all ages because for generations people have just been voting for what they know or what their families have voted for. So there needs to be a push to understand what political parties are standing for.”
The youth forum argue the voice of youth should be listened to more in the current national politics – and now Wales has that potential.
Youth forum project manager Ms Jones added: “People have said quite a lot that if 16 year-olds had been given the vote on Brexit, it would have been ‘remain’, so that it is a big thing that people are talking about.”