More than 60 experts, including current university professors and researchers, have called for lowering the voting age to 16, which they argue is «an act of justice.»
This is evident in the initiative ‘Vote at 16: A fundamental step to strengthen democracy.’ They admit that lowering the voting age to 16 will not solve «all the problems» of societies, but they ensure that it will help «overcome discrimination based on age.» «It is an act of justice towards children and adolescents and provides a renewing impulse that strengthens democracy,» they emphasize.
Likewise, they consider that «democracy, participation, and citizenship are fundamental pillars of modern societies, but their validity faces challenges.» In this sense, they argue that extending the right to vote to those who have not yet reached 18 years old is an «urgent and insufficiently explored» issue.
«The exclusion of the right to vote based on age is an antidemocratic barrier that perpetuates an injustice and weakens the demos,» they point out.
They also highlight that extending the right to vote to 16 and 17-year-olds is a measure of «justice» and a «necessary tool» to «revitalize» democracies in a time of growing concern over political disaffection and questioning of democratic systems. For the experts, it is «an unequivocal commitment to expanding rights.»
In the same line, they indicate that it is a matter of democratic health, aimed at reinforcing the legitimacy of the system and correcting increasingly pronounced generational imbalances.
Furthermore, they assert that adolescents are currently «under attack» by a society that listens to them «little» and does not fully understand them. «In terms of their citizenship rights, they are in a political limbo: they contribute to society, pay indirect taxes, and everyday experience the effects of political decisions they cannot directly influence, although they will also inherit their consequences,» they explain.
«UNBALANCED POLITICAL AGENDAS»
The experts say that the situation of young people entails «margination» and warn of «specific consequences.» On the one hand, they indicate that it «encourages unbalanced political agendas,» leaving «crucial» issues for younger generations insufficiently addressed, such as the climate crisis, housing, education, or youth employment.
On the other hand, they warn that it «deepens the intergenerational fracture.» «If democracy is based on the principle of equality, a system that does not listen to those who will live under the consequences of its policies for longer cannot be considered egalitarian,» they argue.
In this line, they highlight that «intergenerational justice requires recognizing the right of younger people to decide about their present and future, especially in increasingly aging societies like Spain.» «Extending the right to vote at 16 is a commitment to strengthening democracy from the grassroots and moving towards a more inclusive democracy,» they emphasize.
RIGHT INCLUDED IN THE FUTURE YOUTH LAW
The extension of the voting age to 16 will be included in the draft Youth Law being worked on by the Ministry of Youth and Childhood.
«This right will be included in the draft of the future Youth Law because it expands democracy and recognizes the essential political participation of young people,» said Youth and Childhood Minister Sira Rego on Friday during the presentation of the results of the territorial meetings after the participatory process of the law.