The Representation of the People Act 1969 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It extended suffrage to 18- to 20-year-olds. Previously, only those 21 or over were permitted to vote. Votes were extended to undergraduate students in their university town following an appeal to the High Court led for the National Union of Students by the Junior Common Room (JCR - official undergraduate student body) of Churchill College, Cambridge.
Significantly, it did not extend the right to stand for election to Parliament to under-21s.
This statute is sometimes known as the Sixth Reform Act. The United Kingdom general election, 1970 (18 June) is the first in which this Act had effect.
References
Representation of the People Act 1969 Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA