Summary:

Bremen's 500,000 or so voters are a drop in Germany's electoral ocean, and they would be even fewer if 16- and 17-year-olds weren't allowed to vote, setting a national precedent.

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15096422,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-ger-1023-rdf

[23 May 2011] - ...Being Germany's smallest state, Bremen has also become - by accident or design - a kind of electoral testing ground, and Sunday's vote marks a major first for German democracy.

Sixteen- and 17-year-olds in Bremen and Bremerhaven have been invited to take part in the vote, this has only been permitted at municipal elections in the past, in a country where you must usually be 18 in order to cast a ballot. The small city-state hopes this will help rekindle political interest among young people, and states like Hamburg and Brandenburg already plan to follow suit.

Any young voters will also be confronted with a new style of ballot, first adopted in Hamburg. People are permitted to tick up to five boxes, in a scheme designed to give people a greater say in the division of power in the lower and upper houses of parliament. Voters can allocate their votes to five candidates or parties as they wish; they can even hedge their bets and make contradictory votes if they desire.

This experimental complexity comes at a price, though; a definitive count of the roughly 500,000 votes is not expected for several days.

Further Information:

• CRIN's issue page on children and participation
• More on children's rights in Germany
  

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Last updated 23/05/2011 04:39:47

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