Canton Uri says “no” to voting rights for 16-year-olds

Altdorf, the capital of the central Swiss canton of Uri. Keystone / Urs Flueeler

Citizens in canton Uri have decided against lowering the legal voting age to 16, the latest setback for supporters of youth suffrage in Switzerland.

A clear 68.4% of voters in the central Swiss region rejected on Sunday a proposal to change the cantonal constitution to grant voting rights to 16- and 17-year-olds.

The proposal would have allowed young people to vote at the local and cantonal level – both in referendums and in elections – but would not have allowed them stand for election.

Uri voters already rejected the idea in 2009, two years after the neighbouring canton of Glarus became the first canton in Switzerland to lower the voting age to 16.

To date, Glarus remains the national exception: despite initiatives at both cantonal and national level, the voting age remains 18 across Switzerland. Last year, voters in Neuchâtel rejected a similar proposal in a cantonal ballot.

The current minimum voting age of 18 – the age of legal consent in Switzerland – was introduced nationwide following a public vote in 1991.

Supporters of youth suffrage say it would boost the chances of political participation among the younger generation, while opponents argue teenagers aren’t ready to deal with sometimes complex issues.

Research has shown that only about 30% of the 18-29-year-olds in Switzerland take part in votes and elections. The national average is about 45%.