Age of choice from 16 – Many young people in Berlin think that’s good – BZ Berlin
16-year-olds to the ballot box – a sensible move or an immature idea? In the capital, young people should also be allowed to vote in the House of Representatives in the next election! Red-Green-Red aims to lower the voting age from 18 to 16.
By Hildburg Bruns and Emma Neugebauer
16- and 17-year-olds in Berlin have been determining who has come to the helm in the district town halls for a long time – as in most other federal states. Only Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland things keep the 18 high even in local elections.
The BZ wants 16- and 17-year-olds, what they think of the planned election reform and who they would give their cross to.
But even at the state parliament level, Berlin is at the forefront: in Bremen (2011), in Hamburg Brandenburg (2015) and in Schleswig-Holstein (since 2017), younger people have been allowed to vote for a long time. In Hesse it was first made possible, but then abolished again.
In Brandenburg, 41.5 percent of boys took the opportunity in the last state election, compared to 34 percent of the older (18-20 years). For the necessary constitutional change in Berlin, the SPD, the Greens and the Left need a two-thirds majority – in the past the FDP was always with the boat when the demand was made – the CDU stonewalled.
also read
► Young people explain why they want the voting age to be lowered to 16 years
► That is why the voting age should not be lowered under any circumstances
How has the voting age changed over the years? 150 years ago, men over the age of 25 voted, from 1919 women also had the right to vote – everyone over the age of 20.
After the Second World War it rose again to 21 years, in 1970 it was reduced to 18 years. This applies to the Bundestag and Berlin elections.