A legalvoting age is the minimum age that a person is allowed tovote in ademocratic process. Most nations use 18 years of age as their voting age, but for other countries their voting age ranges between 16 and 21 (with the sole exception of theUnited Arab Emirates where the voting age is 25). A nation's voting age may therefore coincide with the country'sage of majority, but in many cases the two are not tied.
In 1890, theSouth African Republic, commonly known as the Transvaal Republic, set a voting age of 18 years.[1] The effort was, like later legislation expanding voting rightsfor women andimpoverished whites, in part an attempt to skew the electorate further in favor ofAfrikaner interests againstuitlanders.
Prior to theSecond World War of 1939–1945, the voting age in almost all countries was 21 years or higher. The U.S. state ofGeorgia lowered its age to 18 by referendum in 1943, for all elections including Congress and President, on the basis that many under 21 were at war;Kentucky followed suit in 1955. In1946 Czechoslovakia became the first state to reduce the voting age nationally to 18 years,[2] and by 1968 a total of 17 countries had lowered their voting age, of which 8 were in Latin America, and 8 were communist countries.[3]
Australia, Japan, Sweden and Switzerland had lowered their voting age to 20 by the end of the 1960s.[4]
Many major democratic countries, beginning in Western Europe and North America, reduced their voting ages to 18 years during the 1970s, starting with the United Kingdom (Representation of the People Act 1969),[4][5][6] Canada,West Germany (1970), the United States (26th Amendment, 1971), Australia (1974), France (1974), Sweden (1975) and others. It was argued that if young men could be drafted to go to war at 18, they should be able to vote at the age of 18.[7]
In the late 20th and early 21st centuries voting ages were lowered to 18 in Japan,[8] India, Switzerland, Austria, the Maldives, and Morocco. By the end of the 20th century, 18 had become by far the most common voting age. However, a few countries maintain a voting age of 20 years or higher, and a few countries have a lower voting age of 16 or 17.[9]
The vast majority of countries and territories have a minimum voting age of 18-years-old as of October 2020.[10] According to data from the ACE Electoral Knowledge Network, 205 countries and territories have a minimum voting age of 18 for national elections out of 237 countries and territories the organization has data on as of October 2020.[10] As of the aforementioned date, 12 countries or territories have a minimum voting age of less than 18, with 3 countries or territories at 17-years-old, and 9 countries or territories at 16-years-old.[10] 16-years-old is the lowest minimum age globally for national elections, while the highest is 25-years-old which is only the case in theUnited Arab Emirates (UAE).[10] This age of 25 was also the case in Italy for Senate (upper house) elections until it was lowered to 18 in 2021.[11] Italy'slower house of Parliament, the Chamber of Deputies, has had a minimum voting age of 18 since 1975, when it was lowered from 21.[12]
Around 2000, a number of countries began to consider whether the voting age ought to be reduced further, with arguments most often being made in favor of a reduction to 16. In Brazil, the age was lowered to 16 in the 1988 Constitution, while the lower voting age took effect for the first time in the 1989 Presidential Election. The earliest moves in Europe came during the 1990s, when the voting age formunicipal elections in someStates of Germany was lowered to 16.Lower Saxony was the first state to make such a reduction, in 1995, and four other states did likewise.[13]
In 2007, Austria became the first country to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in national elections, with the expanded franchise first being consummated in the2009 European Parliament election. A study of young voters' behavior on that occasion showed them to be as capable as older voters to articulate their beliefs and to make voting decisions appropriate for their preferences. Their knowledge of the political process was only insignificantly lower than in older cohorts, while trust in democracy and willingness to participate in the process were markedly higher.[14] Additionally, there was evidence found for the first time of a voting boost among young people age 16–25 in Austria.[15]
Demands to reduce the voting age to 16 years were again brought forward by activists of theschool strike for climate movement in several countries (including Germany and the UK).[21][22]
After PremierDon Dunstan introduced the Age of Majority (Reduction) Bill in October 1970, the voting age in South Australia was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1973.
On 21 October 2019,Greens MPAdam Bandt introduced a bill in the House of Representatives to lower the voting age to 16.[23]
In 2007, Austria became the first member of theEuropean Union to adopt a voting age of 16 for most purposes.[26][27] The voting age had been reduced in Austria from 19 to 18 at all levels in 1992. At that time a voting age of 16 was proposed by theGreen Party, but was not adopted.[28]
The voting age for municipal elections in somestates was lowered to 16 shortly after 2000.[13] Three states had made the reduction by 2003 (Burgenland,Carinthia andStyria),[13] and in May 2003Vienna became the fourth.[29]Salzburg followed suit,[30][31] and so by the start of 2005 the total had reached at least five states out of nine.[32] As a consequence of state law, reduction of the municipal voting age in the states of Burgenland, Salzburg and Vienna resulted in the reduction of the regional voting age in those states as well.[31]
After the2006 election, the winningSPÖ-ÖVP coalition announced on 12 January 2007 that one of its policies would be the reduction of the voting age to 16 for elections in all states and at all levels in Austria.[33] The policy was set in motion by a Government announcement on 14 March,[34] and a bill proposing an amendment to theConstitution was presented to thelegislature on 2 May.[35][36] On 5 June theNational Council approved the proposal following a recommendation from its Constitution Committee.[26][28][37] During the passage of the bill through the chamber relatively little opposition was raised to the reduction, with four out of five parties explicitly supporting it; indeed, there was some dispute over which party had been the first to suggest the idea. Greater controversy surrounded the other provisions of the bill concerning theBriefwahl, orpostal vote, and the extension of the legislative period for the National Council from four to five years.[28] A further uncontroversial inclusion was a reduction in thecandidacy age from 19 to 18. TheFederal Council approved the Bill on 21 June, with no party voting against it.[38] The voting age was reduced when the Bill's provisions came into force on 1 July 2007.[39] Austria thus became the first member of the European Union, and the first of thedeveloped world democracies, to adopt a voting age of 16 for all purposes.[26] Lowering the voting age encouraged political interest in young people in Austria. More sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds voted than eighteen-to-twenty-one-year-olds in Austria.[40]
Brazil lowered the voting age from 18 to 16 in the1988 constitution. The presidential election of 1989 was the first with the lower voting age. People between the ages 18 and 70 are required to vote. The person must be 16 full years old on the eve of the election (In years without election, the person must be 16 full years old on or before 31 December). If they turn 18 years old after the election, the vote is not compulsory. When they turn 18 years old before the election, the vote is compulsory.
Canada lowered its federal voting age from 21 to 18 in 1970.[41][42] MostCanadian provinces soon followed suit, though several initially lowered their voting age to 19. It wasn't until 1992 when the last province,British Columbia, lowered its voting age to 18.[43] A further reduction to 16 was proposed federally in 2005, but was not adopted.[18][44] It was proposed again in 2011, but was not adopted.[45]
In 2020, Canadian SenatorMarilou McPhedran introduced a bill to lower the federal voting age from 18 to 16. She reintroduced it again in November 2021, (bill S-201), but it died on the floor when Parliament wasprorogued inJanuary 2025.[49][50][51] In December 2021, a group of young people filed a court challenge to lower the federal voting age from 18, arguing that the voting age is unconstitutional for violating multiple sections of theCanadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[42] Several weeks later,Taylor Bachrach of theNew Democratic Party (NDP) introduced a private member's bill to lower the voting age to 16.[44] The bill (C-210) was debated in May 2022.[52] The bill was defeated in its second reading with 245 members of parliament voting to oppose the bill and 77 voting to support it.[53]
Internal elections run byCanadian political parties have a lower voting age than that of general elections set by the government, typically allowing party members 14 and up to vote.[54][55][56][57][58][59]
As part of their2021 coalition deal, theSPD,Greens andFDP agreed to lower the voting age for European Elections to 16 within the course of the20th Bundestag. They successfully did so in time for the2024 European parliament elections. They also aimed to lower the voting age for elections to the German parliament. However, this would need a change of the constitution, which was blocked by the oppositionCDU.[61] Seven of the 16states have also lowered their voting age for state elections and 11 of the 16 have lowered it for local elections.
The first proposal to lower the voting age to 16 years was submitted inparliament in 2007. A bill to lower the voting age for municipal elections reached the final reading in 2018, but wasfilibustered by opponents until the close of the parliamentary session.[62]
Iran had been unique in awarding suffrage at 15, but raised the age to 18 in January 2007 despite the opposition of the Government.[64] In May 2007 the Iranian Cabinet proposed a bill to reverse the increase.[citation needed]
Discussion about lowering the voting age to 16 was first introduced as part of a widerJune 2015 referendum. The broader principles of the referendum which concerned electoral reform were rejected by 81% of voters.
Discussion, specifically surrounding the lowering of the voting age to 16 received almost universal support in 2025.[65] Politically, only the ADR and CSV oppose the idea.
On 20 November 2013, Malta lowered the voting age from 18 to 16 for local elections starting from 2015. The proposal had wide support from both the government and opposition, social scientists and youth organizations.
On Monday, 5 March 2018, the Maltese Parliament unanimously voted in favor of amending the constitution, lowering the official voting age from 18 to 16 for general elections, European Parliament Elections and referendums, making Malta the second state in theEU to lower its voting age to 16.[66]
TheNew Zealand Green PartyMPSue Bradford announced on 21 June 2007 that she intended to introduce her Civics Education and Voting Age Bill on the next occasion upon which a place became available for the consideration of Members' Bills.[67] When this happened on 25 July Bradford abandoned the idea, citing an adverse public reaction.[68] The Bill would have sought to reduce the voting age to 16 in New Zealand and makecivics education part of the compulsory curriculum in schools.
The reduction of the voting age to 16 in the United Kingdom was first given serious consideration in 1999, when the House of Commons considered in Committee an amendment proposed bySimon Hughes to the Representation of the People Bill.[73] This was the first time the reduction of a voting age below 18 had ever been put to a vote in the Commons.[74] The Government opposed the amendment, and it was defeated by 434 votes to 36.[74]
In 2004, theUK Electoral Commission conducted a major consultation on the subject of the voting age andage of candidacy, and received a significant response. In its conclusions, it recommended that the voting age remain at 18.[77] In 2005, the House of Commons voted 136-128 (on afree vote) against a Private Member's Bill for a reduction in the voting age to 16 proposed byLiberal Democrat MPStephen Williams. Parliament chose not to include a provision reducing the voting age in theElectoral Administration Act during its passage in 2006.
TheMinistry of Justice published in 2007 aGreen Paper entitled The Governance of Britain, in which it proposed the establishment of a "Youth Citizenship Commission".[80] The Commission would examine the case for lowering the voting age. On launching the paper in the House of Commons,Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: "Although the voting age has been 18 since 1969, it is right, as part of that debate, to examine, and hear from young people themselves, whether lowering that age would increase participation."[81]
During the Youth Parliament debates of in 2009 in the House of Commons, Votes at 16 was debated and young people of that age group voted for it overwhelmingly as a campaign priority. In April 2015, Labour announced that it would support the policy if it won an overall majority in the2015 general election,[82] which it failed to do.
SurroundingBrexit, in June 2016, the government was criticised for not lowering the voting age to 16 for thereferendum.[83][84]
In July 2024 however,Keir Starmer the current leader of the UKLabour Party, became elected asPrime Minister of the United Kingdom. As part of the parties 2024 manifesto (in the run up to the general election) Labour maintained this previous position, Keir Starmer himself confirming that he would lower the voting age from 18 to 16 in all elections (if elected). Prior to the 2024 election, the voting age in bothScotland andWales was and is already set at 16, by the relevant governments of both UK nations (see detail specifics below).
In July 2025, the government announced that the minimum voting age for all elections in the UK would be reduced to 16 by the 2029general election, branding it a "seismic" change, in addition to addingbank cards as validvoter ID.[85]
TheScottish National Party conference voted unanimously on 27 October 2007 for a policy of reducing the voting age to 16 (theage of majority in Scotland), as well as in favour of a campaign for the necessary power to be devolved to theScottish Parliament.[86]
In September 2011, it was announced that the voting age was likely to be reduced from 18 to 16 for theScottish independence referendum.[87] This was approved by the Scottish Parliament in June 2013.[88]
In June 2015, theScottish Parliament voted unanimously to reduce the voting age to 16 for elections for the Scottish Parliament and for Scottishlocal government elections. The voting age in Scotland remains 18 for UK general elections.[89]
Major reforms were recommended in 2017 in the 'A Parliament That Works For Wales' report, by the expert panel on Assembly Electoral Reform led by ProfessorLaura McAllister. It included increasing the size of the Assembly, adapting or changing the electoral system and reducing the age of voting to 16.[90]
TheWelsh Government also legislated for the enfranchisement of 16- and 17-year-olds in the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act, which received royal assent in 2021. The changes – which included lowering the voting age to 16 for local elections in Wales – were in place for local Welsh elections in 2022.[94] The voting age in Wales remains at 18 for UK general elections.[95][96][97]
TheBritish Overseas Territories are those parts of the British Realm that lie outside the archipelago of the British Isles. Before 1983, they were termedBritish colonies, and, from 1983 to 2002,British Dependent Territories).
The voting age in the British Overseas Territories for the United Kingdom Parliamentary elections would be the same as in that part of the realm that lies within the British Isles. However no electoral district has ever been created for any such territory, and British nationals from the territories must first establish residency in an existing electoral district in order to exercise their voting rights in national elections.
Local elected legislatures were established inVirginia in 1619 andBermuda (originally settled as part of Virginia) in 1620. After theAct of Union 1707, sovereignty remained with the British parliament, which asserted its right to legislate for the colonies,[98] though in practice certain competencies were delegated by the British government to the local governments (varying depending upon the degree of representation in the local government of each colony).
Since the 1960s, most of the remaining colonies have been given elected legislatures similar to Bermuda's (or the Councils that advise the appointed governors, originally made up only of appointees, now include elected members), with the enfranchisement for local elections determined by local legislation (subject, like all local legislation, to the approval of the national government). InAnguilla, Bermuda, theBritish Virgin Islands, theCayman Islands, theFalkland Islands,Gibraltar,Montserrat, thePitcairn Islands,Saint Helena (and presumablyAscension Island andTristan da Cunha), andTurks and Caicos Islands the current voting ages for local elections are all 18. There are no permanent inhabitants, and no local legislatures, inBritish Antarctic Territory,British Indian Ocean Territory, andSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. Under the agreement withCyprus by which Britain retained the Sovereign Base Areas ofAkrotiri and Dhekelia, the British government agreed not to set up and administer "colonies" and not to allow new settlement of people in the Sovereign Base Areas other than for temporary purposes. There is no local legislature, and consequently there are no local elections.
Moves to lower the voting age to 16 were first successful in the three BritishCrown dependencies from 2006 to 2008. TheIsle of Man was the first to amend previous legislation in 2006, when it reduced the voting age to 16 for itsgeneral elections, with the House of Keys approving the move by 19 votes to 4.[104]
In 2007, a proposal[111][112] for a reduction (in voting age to 16) made by the House Committee of theStates of Guernsey, and approved by the States' Policy Committee, was adopted by the assembly by 30 votes to 15.[112][113] An Order in Council sanctioned the law,[107] and it was registered at the Court of Guernsey. It came into force immediately, and the voting age was accordingly reduced in time for the2008 Guernsey general election.[114]
In 2022, bothAlderney andSark passed legislation which lowered the voting age to 16 for all elections going forward.[102][103]
Blue indicates a state that allows 17-year-olds who will turn 18 on or before election day to vote in caucuses or primaries. Pink indicates states that allow 17-year-olds to participate in presidential caucuses, but may not vote in primary elections for other offices.
In the United States, the debate about lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 began duringWorld War II and intensified during theVietnam War, when most of those subjected to the draft were too young to vote, and the image of young men being forced to risk their lives in the military without the privileges of voting successfully pressured legislators to lower the voting age nationally and in many states. By 1968, several states had lowered the voting age below 21 years: In 1959, Alaska entered the Union with a minimum age of 19 and Hawaii with 20.[115] while Georgia[115] and Kentucky's was 18.[116] In 1970, the Supreme Court inOregon v. Mitchell ruled that Congress had the right to regulate the minimum voting age in federal elections; however, it decided it could not regulate it at local and state level.
TheTwenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution (passed and ratified in 1971)[117] prevents states from setting a voting age higher than 18.[118] Except for the express limitations provided for in Amendments XIV, XV, XIX and XXVI, voter qualifications for House and Senate elections are largely delegated to the States under Article I, Section 2 and Amendment XVII of the United States Constitution, which respectively state that "The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, andthe Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature." and "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. Theelectors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures."[119]
Seventeen states permit 17-year-olds to vote inprimary elections and caucuses if they will be 18 by election day: Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico,[120] North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia, Vermont, and West Virginia. Iowa, Minnesota, and Nevada allow 17-year-olds to participate in all presidential caucuses, but may not vote in primary elections for other offices. Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Washington, and Wyoming allow 17-year-olds to participate in only Democratic caucuses, but not in the Republican caucus.[121]
All states allow someone not yet 18 to preregister to vote. Fifteen states — California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Utah, Virginia, and Washington — and Washington, D.C., allow 16-year-olds to preregister. In Maine, Nevada, New Jersey, and West Virginia, 17-year-olds can preregister. Alaska allows a teen to preregister within 90 days of their 18th birthday. Georgia, Iowa, and Missouri allow 17.5-year-olds to preregister if they turn 18 before the next election. Texas allows someone 17 year and 10 months old to preregister. The remaining states, excepting North Dakota, do not specify an age for preregistration so long as the teen will be 18 by the next election (usually the next general election). North Dakota does not require voter registration.[122]
On 3 April 2019,Andrew Yang became the first major presidential candidate to advocate for the United States to lower its voting age to 16.[123] At 16, Americans do not have hourly limits imposed on their work, and they pay taxes. According to Yang, their livelihoods are directly impacted by legislation, and they should therefore be allowed to vote for their representatives.[124]
In 2018, a bill in theCouncil of the District of Columbia was proposed to lower the voting age to 16, which would make the federal district the first jurisdiction to lower the voting age for federal level elections.[125] In 2019, Washington D.C., Council Member Charles Allen sponsored a debate on whether or not the city should lower the voting age to 16 for all elections, including the presidential election in the city. Allen gained a magnitude of public support although the measure to lower the age of voting stalled.[126]
A request to lower the voting age to 16 was made during consideration of revisions to theConstitution of Venezuela in 2007.Cilia Flores, president of theNational Assembly, announced that the Mixed Committee for Constitutional Reform had found the idea acceptable. Following approval in the legislature[138] the amendment formed part of the package of constitutional proposals, and was defeated in the2007 referendum.
There are occasional calls for a maximum voting age, on the grounds that older people have less of a stake in the future of the country or jurisdiction.[139] In fact, however, the only jurisdiction with a maximum voting age is theVatican City State whose sovereign, (thePope) is elected by theCollege of Cardinals. A Cardinal must be below the age of 80 on the date of the previous Pope's death or resignation, in order to vote to elect a new Pope.[140]
18 is the most common voting age. In some countries and territories 16 or 17 year-olds can vote in at least some elections. Examples of places with full enfranchisement for those aged 16 or 17 include Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, East Timor, Greece, and Indonesia.
Minimum voting age by country
No elections
age 25
age 21
age 20
age 19
age 18
age 17
age 16
Unknown/No data
The following is an alphabetical list of voting ages in the various countries and territories of the world.[141]
Compulsory between 18 and 70. However, persons 15 years of age are permitted to vote in primary elections if they will be 16 years of age on or before the day of the general election.[143]
17 from July 2016 onwards,[152] was 18 prior. People that turn 17 in the year of the elections can also vote. This means that if a 16-year-old teen was born in the last day of 2005, he/she can vote in an election taking place in 2022.
Direct election 18 years of age; universal for permanent residents living in the territory of Hong Kong for the past seven years; indirect election limited to about 220,000 members of functional constituencies and a 1,200-member election committee drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, and central government bodies.
Direct election 18 years of age, universal for permanent residents living in Macau for the past seven years; indirect election limited to organizations registered as "corporate voters" (973 are currently registered) and a 300-member Election Committee drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, and central government bodies.
Planned lowering of the voting age to 16 (for local elections and for European Parliament elections) is currently underway and has been approved by the Senate in early September 2022. However the government opposes the decision as "unconstitutional". Brought into debate by the Romanian Students' Union in March 2022.[174]
18 for referendums (since 2017). On November 26, 2022, aconstitutional referendum was held in order to lower the voting age from 20 to 18 years. Although a majority of votes were obtained in favor of lowering the voting age, the threshold of half the eligible voters was not reached and the referendum was declared unsuccessful.
Elections for theFederal National Council are voted on by members of eachemirate's electoral college. Electoral college members are selected by the ruler of each emirate, but must be at least 25, and there must be at least 300 members for every seat allocated to each emirate.[180][181][182]
However, in many states, persons 17 years of age are permitted to vote in primary elections if they will be 18 years of age on or before the day of the general election. Some municipalities allow 16-year-olds to vote in local elections.
The following is achronological list of the dates upon which countries lowered the voting age to 18; unless otherwise indicated, the reduction was from 21. In some cases the age was lowereddecrementally, and so the "staging points" are also given. Some information is also included on the relevant legal instruments involved.
1863: Argentina (Previously 21 per theLaw 140 of 1857, reduced to 18 with the Law 75/1863)[185]
1924: Turkey (Previously 25 per the1876 constitution, reduced to 18 with the1924 constitution. It was again raised to 22 on 5 December 1934 while granting full women's suffrage, and gradually lowered to 21 in1961, 20 in 1987 and 18 again in 1995)[186][187]
Philippines (17 January): after the 1973 constitution was announced to have beenapproved in a plebiscite. Among other things, the new constitution lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
Australia (New South Wales was the first state to do so, in 1970)
This is a further list, similar to the above but of the dates upon which countries or territories lowered the voting age to 16; unless otherwise indicated, the reduction was from 18.
Argentina: 1 November 2012. Voting for teenagers between 16 and 18 years of age became optional.[231]
Malta: 20 November 2013. Motion passed in parliament to lower the voting age to 16 at local council elections starting from 2015.[232]
Scotland: 18 September 2014. 16- and 17-year-olds were given the vote for theindependence referendum. This was subsequently extended permanently for local and Scottish Parliament elections as of the2016 Parliament election.[233]
Wales: 6 May 2021, for the elections to theSenedd (formerly the National Assembly for Wales).[234][235] The Welsh Government has also legislated the enfranchisement of 16 and 17-year-olds in local government elections by May 2022 for thelocal Welsh elections.[96][97]
In 2013, theConstitutional Convention was asked to consider reducing the voting age to 17 and recommended lowering it to 16.[264] Thethen government agreed to hold a referendum,[265] but in 2015 postponed it indefinitely to give priority to other referendums.[266]
^"Representing the Overseas Territories in the UK Parliament and Government".UK Parliament (House of Commons Library). UK Government. 7 February 2023.Archived from the original on 19 April 2024. Retrieved14 January 2024.All the Territories have a UK-appointed Governor, who generally holds responsibility for managing the Territory's external affairs, defence and internal security like the police, and often the power to make or veto laws.......As a matter of constitutional law, the UK Parliament has unlimited power to legislate for the Territories. However, passing legislation for the Territories is rare.
^Douglas, Joshua (2019).Lowering the Voting Age from the Ground Up: The United States' Experience in Allowing 16-Year Olds to Vote. Palgrave Macmillan.
^Johnston, Neil (17 July 2025)."Voting age".Archived from the original on 24 July 2024. Retrieved17 July 2025 – via commonslibrary.parliament.uk.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)
^"Constitution of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) Act, 1922".Irish Statute Book. 6 December 1922. Schedule 1, Article 14.Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved4 November 2016.All citizens of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) without distinction of sex, who have reached the age of twenty-one years and who comply with the provisions of the prevailing electoral laws, shall have the right to vote for members of Dáil Eireann, and to take part in the Referendum and Initiative.
^Coakley, John (September 2005). "Ireland's Unique Electoral Experiment: The Senate Election of 1925".Irish Political Studies.20 (3): 231–269: 234.doi:10.1080/07907180500359327.S2CID145175747.
^corporateName=Australian Electoral Commission; address=10 Mort Street, Canberra ACT 2600; contact=13 23 26."Australian voting history in action".Australian Electoral Commission.Archived from the original on 4 December 2024. Retrieved22 September 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^Holgersson, Ulrika; Wängnerud, Lena (2018)."Rostrattens Arhundrade"(PDF).Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (in Swedish).Archived(PDF) from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved14 April 2021.
^Liu, Eva; Yue, S.Y. (September 1996).Political Development in Hong Kong since the 1980s(PDF). Hong Kong: Research and Library Services Division, Legislative Council Secretariat.Archived(PDF) from the original on 8 October 2022. Retrieved8 October 2022.
^Federal Research Division, Library of Congress (April 1997).Brazil — a country study. Washington, D.C.: Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. p. 300.ISBN978-1-57980-299-8.
^Schnuer, Cordula (25 January 2022).""Historic step" as Luxembourgish enshrined in constitution".Delano.Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved6 May 2022.Luxembourg's electorate of over-18s counts around 260,000 people, out of a population of 626,000, with Déi Lénk also in favor of lowering the voting age to 16.
^postma, jeroen; Bodegraven, Robbert; Ellemeet, Corinne; Kâhya, Ufuk; Kohlmann, Christel; Snels, Bart; Pels, Zita; Vendrik, Kees; Rodenburg, Hans; Streefkerk, Mathilde; Evenberg, Zander (2021)."tijd voor nieuwe realisme" [Time for new realism](PDF) (in Dutch).Archived(PDF) from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved7 January 2022.
^Building a Better ScotlandArchived 25 March 2017 at theWayback Machine. 'We will also campaign for the following measures, which are not within the Scottish Parliament’s powers:...The reduction of the voting and candidacy age to 16 – for all elections'. Scottish Socialist Party (official website). Retrieved 1 February 2017.
^"Platform".txgreens.org.Archived from the original on 12 August 2017. Retrieved12 August 2017.
Chan, T.W. & Clayton, M. 2006, "Should the Voting Age be Lowered to Sixteen? Normative and Empirical Considerations",Political Studies,vol. 54, no. 3, pp. 533–558.
Afghanistan
Albania
Alderney
Algeria
American Samoa
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
British Virgin Islands
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Colombia
Comoros
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Republic of the Congo
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Côte d'Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Curaçao
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Eswatini
Ethiopia
Falkland Islands
Faroe Islands
Fiji
Finland
France
French Polynesia
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guam
Guatemala
Guernsey
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Isle of Man
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jersey
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
North Korea
South Korea
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Madagascar
North Macedonia
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Federated States of Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Montserrat
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Cyprus
Northern Mariana Islands
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Pitcairn Islands
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
Saint Helena
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
São Tomé and Príncipe
Sark
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Sint Maarten
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South Sudan
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tokelau
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Turks and Caicos Islands
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vatican City
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
United States Virgin Islands
Western Sahara
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe
