Voting at 16 : extending a right, creating obligations

Abstract

The government is proposing amendments to the electoral law to allow 16-year olds to vote in the Local Councils elections. This is in accordance with what it has pledged to do in its electoral programme. The party in Opposition has made substantially the same pledge and is supporting this initiative. The matter may be eventually taken one or even two steps further by allowing 16-year olds to vote in the parliamentary elections and perhaps also to contest these elections. Even if there are several countries that have lowered the voting age, some also for parliamentary elections, one cannot yet speak of a general trend. Taking the case in Britain, one notices that the campaign in favour of lowering the voting age has still not led to any changes in the law. In the meantime, however, attention has been shifting to studying the issue, including the preparatory measures that need to be taken before legislating.