National Council committee still rejects voting age 16
Published: Friday, Jan 12th 2024, 17:31
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The voting age should remain at 18. This is the opinion of the responsible National Council committee. It wants to write off a bill for 16-year-olds to have the right to vote.
The decision of the National Council's Political Institutions Committee (SPK-N) was made by 15 votes to 10, as reported by the parliamentary services on Friday. The committee had already expressed itself in this direction several times in the past. However, as the Council outvoted the committee on each occasion, the discussions are not yet over.
The issue stems from a 2019 parliamentary initiative by National Councillor Sibel Arslan (Greens/BS), who wants to give 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote, but not the right to stand for election. The political engagement of young people has increased significantly, Arslan explained her proposal. In addition, they are often the ones affected by political decisions, such as a climate law or the structure of the pension system.
The proposal met with widespread opposition during the consultation process, particularly from the cantons. Despite this, the National Council decided in summer 2023 not to write off the initiative, contrary to the proposal of its committee.
The SPK-N is sticking to its negative stance for well-known reasons, according to the statement. A voting age of 16 would be an unjustified contradiction to the rights and obligations under civil and criminal law that apply to Swiss citizens aged 18 and over. The Commission also considers it problematic to separate the age threshold for the right to vote and the right to stand for election.
The newly composed Council should have the opportunity to decide this issue again in principle, wrote the National Council committee. In an initial reaction, the SP criticized the commission's decision. The committee was preventing the electorate from being able to vote on such an important democratic policy issue.
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