Schwerin (dpa/mv) – Voting at 16 in state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is getting closer: On Wednesday, the state parliament discussed the planned change in the state election law and unanimously referred the draft to the committees for further discussion. If they give a positive vote, nothing stands in the way of amending the law in a second reading in autumn. Then 16 and 17-year-olds could also vote in the next state election in 2026. So far, the minimum age is 18 years.
Voting at 16 in state elections has so far been possible in five federal states. After Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, Baden-Württemberg took this step in April. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the lowering of the voting age is part of the coalition agreement of the new black-green coalition.
The federal executive spokesman for the “More Democracy” initiative, Ralf-Uwe Beck, welcomed the latest developments and called for: “Lowering the voting age to 16 should also be on the federal agenda.”
The red-red state government in Schwerin, on whose initiative the voting age is to be lowered, expects this to involve young people more in politics. According to government calculations, the number of voters will increase by around 1.9 percent.
16 and 17-year-olds have been able to vote in municipal elections in MV since 1999. However, they are not allowed to stand for election. The minimum age for eligibility is 18 years. It is linked to the age of majority – in local and state elections.
