The Flemish socialist Vooruit party wants to introduce voting rights from the age of 16 in municipal and provincial council elections, the party announced on Wednesday.
The draft decree was submitted to the Flemish parliament last week and will be discussed over the coming weeks. The aim is to finalise everything before the summer, so that the change can already be applied in the local elections of October 2024.
Allowing 16-year-olds to vote for municipal and provincial councils gives them the opportunity to "participate in today's political world," said Flemish Vooruit MP Kurt De Loor, who put the proposal on the table. Unlike the requirement to turn up to vote for adult Belgians, teenagers would be given the chance to vote, but it would not be made mandatory.
"Many political decisions also have a major impact on our young people: they cycle to school, take the bus, play sports in the local sports hall or go camping with the youth movement," he said. "It is therefore only normal that their voices are heard."
N-VA opposed
De Loor has also endorsed additional measures to ensure that young people are sufficiently "informed, enthused and involved in the political debate" and expects additional efforts from the Flemish government, in collaboration with education, local authorities and (youth) associations.
Last year, it had already been decided that people from the age of 16 will also be allowed to vote in the European elections in 2024.
When the Flemish government was formed, however, the Flemish rightwing N-VA party explicitly requested not to lower the age limit. Still, the governing Christian-democratic CD&V and liberal Open VLD parties are in favour.
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"We are in favour of lowering the right to vote to 16," said Flemish MP for CD&V Brecht Warnez. "It is an age at which young people can cast a well-considered vote and deserve it. In some countries, such as Austria or certain states in Germany, this already exists. Scientific research shows that it increases the involvement of young people in politics."
Still, he highlighted N-VA opposition to lowering the voting age during the negotiations and both Open VLD and CD&V agreed to their terms. "So we have to honour those agreements."
