Should The Voting Age Be Lowered To 16?

A bill has been submitted to parliament attempting to lower the voting age to 16, Vísir reported this morning. The bill has been proposed by Andrés Ingi Jónsson, a former MP for the Leftist Greens, and 10 MPs from outside parties are presenting the bill with him.

The lowering of the voting age has been under discussion in parliament for thirteen years. The first bill requesting that the age be lowered was submitted by Hlynur Hallsson and Kolbrún Hallsdóttir, both of the Leftist-Greens. Similar bills have been submitted since then, but none of them have been approved.

Recently the bills have only related to lowering the age in local elections, but this particular bill aims to make changes to the constitution, so that the voting age would be lowered in all elections if the bill were passed.

“The voice of the young generation is a natural and essential part of improving life in the country, and with the lowering of the voting age, a larger group of young people can have a direct influence through elections,” said Andrés. He argued that the change would enrich politics with new ideas.

The Grapevine has previously reported on bills aiming to lower the voting age, for example in January 2019.

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