Bundestag President Bas suggests lowering the voting age to 16 – as will be the case for the first time in the coming European elections. She gets approval from the Greens – the FDP and CDU tie the right to vote to the age of majority.
Bundestag President Bärbel Bas has provoked mixed reactions with her proposal to lower the voting age to 16 in federal and state elections.
Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckardt agreed with Bas. Young people are the pillar of society. “You have every right to decide about your future yourself,” the Green politician told the Funke newspapers. “This also means that they can have a say in political decisions that affect their lives.” A political stance is not a question of age.
Kubicki and Frei tie the right to vote to being of legal age
Bundestag Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki positioned himself against a voting age of 16 years in federal elections. “In my view, the voting age should be linked to the age of majority,” he told the Funke newspapers. “If the legislature does not grant those under 18 years of age full legal capacity, then it makes no sense to legally define this maturity when deciding on the country’s political future.”
The Parliamentary Managing Director of the Union parliamentary group, Thorsten Frei, argued similarly. “It’s hard to justify why someone should have a say in the fate of our country who we don’t consider to be mature enough in other areas to regulate their affairs without the consent of their parents,” the CDU politician told the newspaper association.
For example, people under 18 cannot sign a mobile phone contract themselves. “In my opinion, there is a broad social consensus that one reaches the age of majority at the age of 18,” emphasized Frei. “Then this is also the right time to transfer the right to vote.” At the moment he sees no need to change anything.
Bas: Voting from the age of 16 is “good for our democracy”
In an interview with the newspapers of the Funke media group, Bas spoke out in favor of a nationwide lowering of the voting age in Germany. “In the European elections in June, 16-year-olds will be allowed to vote for the first time. That’s good for our democracy,” said the SPD politician. “We should follow suit with the federal and state elections.” In some federal states it is already possible to vote at the age of 16.
Bas told the newspapers of the Funke media group that some people would have a stomach ache if young people were given the right to vote before they came of age. “But I will not stop campaigning for a majority to change the constitution and lower the voting age to 16. For me, this is part of education for democracy.” The earlier people vote, the more likely it is that they will continue to take part in elections regularly in the future, said Bas.
Mediation of democracy at the schools
Bas also took the schools to task. “Students have to learn not to just get information from TikTok or YouTube – and to distinguish information from fake news,” she said. Rather, “the value of democracy must always be taught” in schools.
Bas expressed his openness to voting via app, as Estonia is currently planning. “I definitely want to look at this app, it could be a useful tool in the future,” she said. However, it must be ensured that such an election app cannot be manipulated. However, it could then contribute to higher voter turnout.
In six federal states, people aged 16 and over are allowed to vote
Lowering the legal voting age is constantly being discussed in Germany. In federal elections it is 18 years old; in state and local elections it is regulated differently.
In six federal states, 16-year-olds are now allowed to have a say in the composition of state parliaments: in Hamburg, Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Baden-Württemberg and Brandenburg.