The members of the Congress examined a report on 'Voting at 16 – Consequences on youth participation at local and regional level' at their 29th Session, on 20 October 2015. The resolution adopted emphasises that local and regional elections form a 'test case' and a particularly appropriate starting point for lowering the voting age to 16 years. The Congress calls on its committees and European local and regional authorities to promote the issue of lowering the voting age to 16 in such elections. “This could be achieved by a step-by-step approach: through a comparative analysis of current practices concerning voting requirements at territorial level, recommendations inviting Council of Europe member states to further harmonise the age for the right to vote, and an analysis of the situation of civic and compulsory political education at school in member States,” underlined Congress Rapporteur Liisa Ansala (Finland, ILDG). “Lowering the voting age to 16 is a logical and fair step in our democracy, and that step is slowly being taken around Europe”, stated Marcio Barcelos, Board member of the European Youth Forum.
Speech by Liisa Ansala, Congress rapporteur
Speech by Marcio Barcelos, Board member of the European Youth Forum
