Should young people from the age of 16 be allowed to vote in federal and European elections? According to a survey, the majority is still against it – but approval is growing.
According to a survey, the majority of Germans are still against lowering the voting age to 16 – but the rejection is crumbling.
As determined by the Insa Institute for the “Bild” newspaper, 62 percent of those surveyed currently reject or tend to reject the idea that German citizens over the age of 16 will be able to vote in federal elections in the future. Seven and a half years ago it was still 80 percent in an Allensbach survey for the Bertelsmann Foundation. A lowering of the voting age is now supported by 27 percent, back then it was only 13 percent. 7 percent don’t care about this question at the moment, 4 percent can’t or don’t want to position themselves.
An extension of the legislative period from four to five years, for which there is now a majority in the Bundestag, is also rejected by most Germans. 45 percent of the 1001 surveyed by Insa reject the extension or at least rather reject it. 34 percent find the extension good or rather good. 17 percent don’t care about this, and another five percent are unable or unwilling to provide any information.
Source: Stern
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