Lowering the right to vote to 16? The proposal is signed Anne Hidalgo. Monday, October 25, on franceinfo, the socialist candidate for the 2022 presidential election estimated that “16-year-olds must be able to speak out” on different subjects but also “be eligible”. According to her, this could allow young people to “become aware of the fragility of democracy”.
>> Teachers’ salary, climate ISF, right to vote from 16 years old … What to remember from the interview with Anne Hidalgo on franceinfo
“Before asking young people to trust them, you have to trust them”, replied on franceinfo Paula Forteza, unregistered member of the French from abroad in Latin America and the Caribbean. Paula Forteza was the author and rapporteur of a bill for the right to vote at 16 in October 2020.
franceinfo: How can the right to vote at 16 make a difference?
Paula Forteza: Before asking young people for confidence, you have to trust them. These are typically the arguments that were opposed to us by the majority during the debates in the National Assembly. But we must first show them that we take into consideration their point of view, their political position, so that they also want to mobilize and participate. Young people are already mobilizing, we are talking about this generation Greta Thunberg in particular. They participate in the street and on social networks. We have to give them a place in our institutions.
Young people are mobilizing, but are we sure they want to vote?
The right to vote at 16 is one of the measures that will have to be put in place to fight against the absenteeism of young people, but it is not the only one. It is also a question, for example, of the recognition of the blank vote, of the change of the rules of political financing to bring out citizen candidatures, of experimenting with other types of ballot, such as the preferential vote … in any case an idea whose time has come, which goes in the direction of history, marked by the progressive extension of suffrage. More and more candidates and campaign teams are talking about it as the elections approach. We even see that in Germany, while the government agreement is being put in place between the social democrats, the Greens and the progressives, this measure is part of the program that brings them together. This is advancing in several other countries in Europe and the world. It is a measure that must be highlighted.
Do you also think that voting at 16 also means being eligible at that age?
Personally, I am for this measure. During the debates, it was not the one that had the most consensus. It was not even a request from the young people, who perhaps did not yet feel prepared, who felt that it was a great responsibility. However, many young people are mobilizing today so that personalities under 30 are on municipal lists, have party nominations. I am thinking in particular of the Allons enfants party, which is mobilizing to have young candidates. It is also something that must be supported, in particular by strengthening training and civic education in high school. It is a great demand from young people to be able to build a political opinion, with more hours of lessons to compare programs, debates between different positions, a bit like a kind of “accompanied driving”. The advantage of the right to vote at 16 is that young people are still in high school and can be supported in this civic construction.