From BZ
It should be progressive. Because people can also vote for state parliaments at the age of 16 elsewhere, Berlin now wants to follow suit.
Only the future will show whether the initiative serves the stability and ability to act in our democratic society. The Senate and other supporters of expanding the right to vote consider an improvement in the political education of young people to be necessary and link the planned constitutional amendment with corresponding demands.
At the same time, master craftsmen in their search for suitable trainees complain about the inadequate qualifications of a large number of applicants. The question arises as to whether these concerns and demands speak against lowering the voting age – at least in the current situation.
Now I expressly agree that some 16-year-olds or even younger people can be more politically interested and more informed than many citizens who have been eligible to vote for a long time. The right to vote cannot be tied to a test of political maturity. A little arbitrariness will always be to be complained about when determining active and passive voting rights.
But: Aren’t there good reasons for protecting young people and adolescents because they don’t come of age until they turn 18? They should be protected from ruinous deals because they generally have less life experience. There are good reasons for juvenile criminal law. There is extensive youth protection – it’s just not always enforced – and you can only drive a car from the age of 18 without being accompanied by an adult.
Our society does not want to overwhelm young people and does not want to “send” them into full responsibility too early. At the beginning there should be the necessary experience and maturity – a word that is certainly frowned upon today – which can only be acquired with age. The right to vote at 16 is therefore not progressive, it is short-term.
Political parties often only promote this because they hope for better election results. But please be careful: The Hertie Foundation – otherwise committed to expanded voting rights – has just pointed out the tendency of young people to support extreme parties.
An appeal to reconsider the whole thing will certainly be in vain in Berlin. As an optimist, the hope remains: it’s about two percent of voters, and experience shows that there is only low participation among them. In the short term, our Berlin will not perish because of the problematic Senate initiative. In my opinion, however, it sends the wrong signals.