LMP motions for lowering voting age to 16

The opposition LMP will submit an amendment to the constitution on lowering the voting age from 18 years to 16, the party’s spokesman said on Wednesday. 

Under the proposed legislation, Hungarians aged 16 could cast their ballots first in the municipal elections in 2019 and then in the European Parliamentary elections set for the same year, Máté Kanász-Nagy told a press conference.

LMP would, however, maintain the provision that sets 18 years as the age limit for becoming a candidate to run in an election, he said.

The spokesman cited the example of Austria and Scotland where the law ensures voting under the age of 18. He added that laws in Malta and Estonia ensure this right in local elections.

Klaudia Apostol, the co-chair of LMP’s youth arm, said

the amendment aimed to inspire young Hungarians to express their opinion about the country’s public affairs.

Source: MTI