By Spenser Surerus
Belgian voters go to the polls today to choose their representatives at regional, federal and European levels. Their ranks will be swollen by 16 and 17-year-olds who’ll be electing their MEPs for the first time.
The move aligns Belgium with several other European nations, like Germany, Austria, and Malta, which have lowered their voting age to 16 for EU parliamentary elections. However, the voting age for concurrent Belgian federal and regional elections remains 18.
For Dr. Ruth Dassoneville, Canada Research Chair in Electoral Democracy, the changed EU rules create “an opportunity to test out what [the lowered voting age] would do and to evaluate the impact before expanding it further.”
Dassoneville added there were potentially negative consequences of including young voters in an election “generally considered less important” than the federal election. “They might have the impression that they’re listened to sometimes, but not all the time,” she said.
In Belgium, discussion about the EU elections has been overshadowed by the threat of Flemish separatism and the rise of right-wing populism leading up to the federal election. Vlaams Belang, a Flemish-separatist party, has been leading in the polls for months up to the election.
Marthe Vankeirsbilck, president of the European Youth Parliament Belgium and a first-time voter, agrees that European elections are being pushed aside. However, by lowering the voting age, Europe is “including a larger part of the future, expanding a group of voters with different voting priorities,” said Ms. Vankeirsbilck. Unemployment, technology, and climate change are all on young voters’ minds, she added.
By including young voters, Vankeirsbilck said “some part of the political landscape may change, and I think that’s pretty exciting.”
Amy McAuley, project officer for the Organising Bureau of European School Student Unions’ Co-operation Youth Vote, said that electoral changes must be supported with education for young voters. “We all think we know everything at 16. I think it’s good to give them the responsibility to vote, but they need to be provided with accurate information.”
Feature Image: Pro-European rally to stand up for a democratic and united Europe. Photo credit: Elke Wetzig