Voting age

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A voting age is a minimum age established by law that a person must attain in order to be eligible to vote in a public election.

Contents

[edit] History

Historically, 21 years of age was regarded as the age of majority in most countries and included the acquisition of voting rights for those otherwise entitled to them. There were however some countries, particularly those in Scandinavia, which maintained voting ages higher than 21.

During the 20th century a large number of countries reduced the voting age from 21, with most lowering it to 18. The majority of these reductions were immediate, but in some cases a final reduction to 18 was preceded by one to a higher age (eg. 20). Exceptions to the voting age were also provided for in some countries on the basis of service given in conflicts such as the First and Second World Wars.

Czechoslovakia was early to act, reducing its age to 18 in 1946, and by 1968 a total of 17 states had made the reduction.[1] A large number of countries, particularly in Western Europe, reduced their voting ages to 18 during the 1970s. The United Kingdom was the first such country to do so, in 1970. It led a swift and widespread sweep of the world's leading democracies, with states such as the United States, Canada, Australia and France following soon afterwards. By the end of the century 18 had become by far the most common age at which citizens acquired the right to vote.

[edit] Voting ages around the world

18 is the most common voting age, with a small minority of countries differing from this rule. Those with a national minimum age of 17 include East Timor, Indonesia, North Korea, the Seychelles and Sudan. The minimum age is 16 in Brazil, Cuba, Nicaragua and the Isle of Man (though Man is not a sovereign state). Iran was unique in awarding suffrage at 15, but raised the age to 18 in 2007.[2] People aged 16-18 can vote in Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro if employed. By contrast the minimum age in Uzbekistan is 25, which age is also used in Italy for elections to the Senate. Some countries also have variable provision for the minimum voting age, whereby a lower age is set for elibility to vote in state, regional or municipal elections.

The only known maximum voting age is in the Holy See, where the franchise for electing a new Pope is restricted to Cardinals under the age of 80.

The following is an alphabetical list of voting ages in the various countries of the world.

Voting age:      15      16      17      18      19      20      21
Voting age:      15      16      17      18      19      20      21

[edit] A

[edit] B

[edit] C

[edit] D

[edit] E

[edit] F

[edit] G

[edit] H

  • Haiti: 18
  • Holy See (Vatican City): limited to cardinals less than 80 years old
  • Honduras: 18
  • Hong Kong: direct election 18 years of age; universal for permanent residents living in the territory of Hong Kong for the past seven years; indirect election limited to about 200,000 members of functional constituencies and an 800-member election committee drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, and central government bodies
  • Hungary: 18

[edit] I

[edit] J

[edit] K

[edit] L

[edit] M

[edit] N

[edit] O

  • Oman: in Oman's most recent Majlis al-Shura elections in 2003, suffrage was universal for all Omanis over age 21 except for members of the military and security forces; the next Majlis al-Shura elections are scheduled for 2007

[edit] P

  • Pakistan: 18 years of age; universal; joint electorates and reserved parliamentary seats for women and non-Muslims
  • Palau: 18
  • Panama: 18
  • Papua New Guinea: 18
  • Paraguay: 18
  • Peru: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory until the age of 70; (members of the military and national police may not vote)
  • Philippines: 18 (increased from 15 years in 1987)
  • Pitcairn Islands: 18 years of age; universal with three years residency
  • Poland: 18
  • Portugal: 18
  • Puerto Rico: 18 years of age; universal; island residents are US citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections

[edit] Q

[edit] R

[edit] S

[edit] T

[edit] U

[edit] V

[edit] W

[edit] Y

[edit] Z

[edit] Dates at which voting age was lowered to 18 (from 21 unless indicated)

non-federal elections: Quebec in 1963,[8] Manitoba on 10 October 1969,[9] Ontario in 1971,[8] Nova Scotia in 1973 following reduction to 19 in 1970[10] and British Columbia in 1992 following reduction to 19 in 1952[11]
prior reductions: Georgia in August 1943[13] and Kentucky in 1955;[1] Guam in 1954[14] and American Samoa in 1965[14]

[edit] Dates at which voting age was lowered to 16 (from 18 unless indicated)

[edit] Organizations which want the voting age lowered or removed

[edit] Political organizations that have endorsed lower voting ages

[edit] Australia

[edit] Austria

[edit] Canada

[edit] Netherlands

[edit] Norway

  • Liberal Party of Norway [8]

[edit] United Kingdom

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b "Lowering the Minimum Voting Age to Eighteen Years - Pro and Con Arguments", Constitutional Revision Study Documents of the Maryland Constitutional Convention Commission, 1968. Retrieved on 5 February 2007.
  2. ^ a b "Iran raises voting age to 18", Iran Focus, 2007-01-14. Retrieved on February 4, 2007.
  3. ^ Oleksyn, Veronika. "Austrians split on voting at age 16 plan", AP/washingtonpost.com, 2007-01-12. Retrieved on February 2, 2007.
  4. ^ "Austria lowers voting age", IOL, South Africa, 2007-03-14. Retrieved on March 30, 2007.
  5. ^ "NA panel lowers voting age to 18", kuwaittimes.net, 2007-01-16. Retrieved on February 4, 2007.
  6. ^ "Young Canadians and the Voting Age: Should it be Lowered?", Canadian Policy Research Network, 2005. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.
  7. ^ "Canadian History 1900-1999", Canadian History Directory, 2007-01-01. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.
  8. ^ a b Elections Canada On-Line
  9. ^ Elections Manitoba
  10. ^ The Canadian Encyclopedia, Nova Scotia
  11. ^ Elections British Columbia)
  12. ^ Title 3, 84 Stat. 318, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1973bb.; text reproduced in Oregon v. Mitchell, 400 U.S. 112, 223
  13. ^ "Suffrage Jr.", Time, 1943-08-16. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.
  14. ^ a b Cheng, J.. "The 'Qualified Voter' and the Minimum Voting Age", Department of Political Science, University of Michigan. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.
  15. ^ "HS Gallup: Little public support for reduction in voting age", Helsingin Sanomat International Edition - Metro, 2007-01-11. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.)
  16. ^ La Constitution du 4 Octobre 1958, Art. 3 and Le Code Civil francais, Art. 488
  17. ^ Elections New Zealand, "The Right to Vote". Retrieved on 5 February 2007.
  18. ^ Encyclopedia of the Nations, New Zealand. Retrieved on 6 February 2007.
  19. ^ folketinget.dk, "Representative democracy and referenda"
  20. ^ Encyclopedia of the Nations, Belgium. Retrieved on 6 February 2007.
  21. ^ Official Website of the Chief Electoral Officer, Delhi, FAQs Q21
  22. ^ swissworld.org, "The political system in Switzerland"
  23. ^ Constitution of the Principality of Liechtenstein, Art. 29(2)
  24. ^ Nadeem, M.; Laghari, J.. Study of Pakistan Election System as “Intelligent e-Election”. Faculty of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Szabist, Karachi. Retrieved on February 4, 2007. 
  25. ^ Encyclopedia of the Nations, Pakistan. Retrieved on 6 February 2007.
  26. ^ "Morocco lowers voting age", BBC News, 2002-12-11. Retrieved on February 5, 2007.
  27. ^ Bowman, K.; Lehoucq, F.;Mahoney, J. (2005). "[[1] Measuring Political Democracy: Case Expertise, Data Adequacy, and Central America]". Comparative Political Studies 38 (8): 939-970 (Appendix C). Retrieved on 2007-02-04. 
  28. ^ Representation of the People (Amendment) Act 2006, s. 4

[edit] See also


[edit] External links

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