Looks like Spain may be the next country to recognize the validity of the youth voice by lowering their voting age to 16!
The secretary of the Joventut de la Generalitat, Eugeni Villalbí, believes that if at age 16 can decide to abort children, work, and can change their treatment before the judicial system they must also be able to vote
The secretary of the Joventut de la Generalitat, Eugeni Villalbí, has been in favour of young people voting at 16 and, as explained in an interview with ACN, will work to include this premise in the National Pacte per la Joventut. He said that at this age they are treated as adults in many respects, but can not exercise the primary right to decide in a democracy.
Definitely! We of course wish them luck with this change, in the quest for youth suffrage! While I don’t know a whole lot about teens’ situation in Spain, here in the United States, at 16 you can be charged as an adult for most crimes, considered competent enough to have known better (even for crimes that are only crimes because of your young age, in a weird bit of circular reasoning) but not competent enough to vote for or against who made these rules to begin with. The needs of youth can never be fully met as long as they do not have a ballot.
So here’s hoping Spain makes this important change for their youth and their future, and that other countries will be doing the same soon!
Of course, don’t want to congratulate Spain just yet, as we’ve heard they and France are also considering nationwide youth curfews! Ugh!
Lower the voting age? YES! Enacting youth curfews? NO!
