Schwerin (dpa/mv) - For the first time, young people aged 16 and 17 can also take part in the next state election planned for 2026 in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The state parliament decided on Wednesday in Schwerin with a large majority to lower the voting age. This makes Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania the sixth federal state to lower the age limit for state elections from 18 to 16 years. In addition to the government factions of the SPD and Left, the Greens and FDP also voted in favor of the opposition, while the AfD and CDU voted against.
Interior Minister Christian level (SPD) spoke of one of the shortest draft laws in this legislative period, as only one number will be changed. "But the social impact is significant. Because the intention is to give 16 and 17-year-olds the strongest democratic basic right that we know: the right to vote, in this case for state elections," he said.
Several MPs spoke of a long overdue step. "Finally the young generation of today is involved in setting the course for tomorrow," said Constanze Oehlrich from the Greens. The new law brings "more participation, more co-determination and more democracy," said SPD MP Nadine Julitz. FDP parliamentary group leader René Domke also welcomed the change in the law.
Jan-Phillip Tadzen from the AfD parliamentary group, on the other hand, expressed fundamental concerns about it. Although the age for voting will be lowered, you will still only be eligible for election at the age of 18, when you have reached the age of majority.
The CDU MP Marc Reinhardt made a similar statement. In addition, the definition of 16 years is arbitrary. Reinhardt also referred to the harmony of rights and duties and asked whether the age of criminal responsibility should not be lowered at the same time.
After years of discussions, the red-red state government in Schwerin, which had been in power for a year, initiated the change in the law. Voting at 16 in state elections was previously the case in Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and Baden-Württemberg. There are plans for this in North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin and Lower Saxony. For local elections in the northeast - as in ten other federal states - the minimum voting age has long been 16 years.
