ARGENTINA: Argentina is set to lower the voting age to 16-years-old after a bill is approved by the Senate

Record ID: 327845

  • Title: ARGENTINA: Argentina is set to lower the voting age to 16-years-old after a bill is approved by the Senate
  • Date: 18th October 2012
  • Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (OCTOBER 17, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OUTSIDE OF ARGENTINE CONGRESS BUILDING (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 2nd November 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3F0O2XVEM7CCV18KOGX1Q3IOK
  • Story Text: Argentina's Senate easily approved a bill on Wednesday (October 17) to lower the voting age to 16 from 18.
    The vote passed by 52-3 with two abstentions and is expected to receive lower house approval and become law next month.
    "Sixteen and 17-year-olds have inherent rights - women and men who we have forgotten, or that the Congress has forgotten for a long time. The Congress has the responsibility to bring these rights back and to recognize them as such," said senator Anibal Fernandez.
    The change would likely increase the number of voters by up to about 1.4 million, depending on turnout. Almost 23 million Argentines voted in last year's presidential election.
    Supporters say the amendment will strengthen democracy and bring Argentina in line with nations such as Nicaragua, Ecuador and Brazil that have already extended voting rights to people as young as 16.
    Despite the strong vote in favour of the reform, some opposition senators say it appears a thinly veiled vote-winning tactic aimed at bolstering waning support for the president before the legislative election scheduled for October 2013.
    "I do not doubt the capacity of young people, what I doubt is the majority's conception of power that they throw at us all the time to cancel the debate," said senator Norma Morandini who abstained in Wednesday's vote.
    But most political analysts say lowering the voting age is unlikely to have a major impact on election results - no more than 1 or 2 percentage points - although they agree that the government and leftist parties stand to gain the most from a youth vote.
    Outside a school in Buenos Aires, some students welcomed the move.
    "It doesn't matter which party supports it [the new bill]. This [new bill] needs to be supported because it means more youth participation in politics. We are coming from 36 years of dictatorships and neoliberalism and Menemism where the message was that politics was something that concerned other people, that it was something for older people only and that we had to look away. This led to the destruction of the country," said student Ivan Horowits.
    "I believe that if the opposition thinks this, it's because it has nothing to offer the youth. They are denouncing it as a Kirchnerist maneuver. But, regardless, I think that Kirchnerism is not as powerful as some people think within the youth movement, but actually, just the opposite. In Buenos Aires there is currently only one student centre that is Kirchnerist and that is Mariano Acosta. As a result, I don't think that the youth vote sides towards Kirchnerism, but that it leans to a sector of the left that is basically just more developed in the youth movement," said student Nicolas Cernadas.
    Voting is compulsory in Argentina, but 16 and 17-years-olds - as is the case for those over 70-years of age - will not be sanctioned if they do not vote.
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