Europe

Those under 18 years of age can vote in these five EU countries in the European elections

Those under 18 years of age can vote in these five EU countries in the European elections

In addition to Germany, where some 780,000 16-year-olds are called to the polls for the first time in this week’s European elections, there are three other countries in the European Union, Austria, Belgium and Maltawhere you can vote at that age and one, Greece, where voting is allowed to voters who turn 17 in 2024.

Although voting from the age of 18 continues to be the norm in most countries of the European Union, some governments, such as Spain, have given signals in favor of lowering the minimum age to have the right to vote, as recommended in 2022 the European Parliament.

“We are starting the debate now (…) We have to see how the process is configured, among other things because we want to have a public debate of the youth themselves,” said the Spanish Minister of Youth and Children recently, Sira Rego.

Among the five EU countries with the right to vote at the earliest ages there are differences, since in the case of Belgium it only applies to the European elections that are held between June 6 and 9, while in Austria and Malta young people with 16 years fulfilled can vote in national, regional or local elections.

In the case of Germany, at the national level, youth voting is allowed only in European elections, but there are federal states whose legislation authorizes it in other elections.

In Greece To be able to vote in these European elections it is necessary turn 17 in 2024, that is, having been born in 2007.

In May 2022, the European Parliament approved a legislative resolution to urge the European Council to harmonize the age both to stand as a candidate in elections, whether local or European, and to vote in them, and recommended in that text lowering the minimum age of vote.

“Granting the right to vote at the age of 16 would reflect the current rights and duties that young Europeans already have in some Member States,” the resolution states.

Currently the minimum age to stand as a candidate in the 27 Member States varies between 18 and 25 years and the minimum age to vote is between 16 and 18 years.

Throughout the European Union, more than 372 million people, that will elect 720 representatives in the European Parliament, 15 more than until now.

In 2019, the previous European elections, which have been held every five years since 1979, more than 200 million Europeans voted and participation barely exceeded 50%, eight points more than in 2014, an increase driven above all by young people.

European law dictates that elections must last four days, from Thursday to Sunday, to give states flexibility. This year, the first to vote will be the citizens of the Netherlands, on June 6; On the 7th it will be the turn of Ireland and the Czech Republic, the latter country which will also have the polls open on the 8th.

On the 8th Slovakia, Latvia, Malta and all French overseas territories will vote. Italians will have two days to vote, the 8th and the 9th, and in the rest of the countries, including Spain, they will be held on Sunday the 9th.

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