Voting age 16 in NRW: a constitutional amendment with national political significance

The governing coalition in North Rhine-Westphalia made up of the CDU and Alliance 90/The Greens, together with the SPD and FDP, has amended the state constitution to lower the voting age for state elections to 16. Following Berlin in 2023 and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Baden-Württemberg in 2022, the most populous federal state is thus sending a strong cross-party signal in favour of more political participation for young people. This means that young people in eight federal states will soon be able to vote for their state parliament from the age of 16. Similarly, 16- and 17-year-olds have been able to vote for the European Parliament nationwide since 2022.

"The lowering of the voting age by the CDU-led state government in NRW sends a clear political signal to the Federal Government's Electoral Law Commission. We want to encourage the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag to follow this example. The results of the European elections and the U18 federal elections show that young people can and want to participate in elections; they should finally be allowed to do so at all federal levels. We strengthen our democracy when we recognise the interests of young people and involve them effectively in politics," says Wendelin Haag, Chairman of the German Federal Youth Council.

So far, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag has opposed a constitutional amendment to lower the voting age for Bundestag elections; all other democratic parliamentary groups are prepared to do so. Young people can already vote in European elections from the age of 16, and in the federal states the right to vote from the age of 16 is increasingly gaining ground for state and local elections. The arguments in favour of lowering the age have long been known and scientifically substantiated. It is time for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag to form a majority with the other democratic parties to amend the constitution and give young people under the age of 18 the right to vote.

Themen: Nationale Jugendpolitik Kinder- und Jugendwahl U18 Participation