Voting age
Somehow andrewbartlett (Australian Democrats Senator for Queensland) ended up on my friends list. He's talking about a proposal to allow 16-year-olds to vote in some Australian elections. If they can vote for "Australia's Next Superstar" or the Logies, why not?
http://www.andrewbartlett.com/blog/?p=233
http://www.andrewbartlett.com/blog/?p=150
http://www.youthrights.org/votestatus.shtml leads with this inspiring collection of precedents:
Countries with a Voting Age under Eighteen:
Age 15 Iran
Age 16 Brazil, Nicaragua, (for local elections: Germany, Austria)
Age 17 Indonesia, East Timor, Sudan, Seychelles, (for local elections: Israel)
Finally, a proposal from Germany for "family voting rights", holding childrens' votes in trust until they're of "able age": http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,962669,00.html (Deutsche Welle, 4 September 2003).
http://www.andrewbartlett.com/blog/?p=233
http://www.andrewbartlett.com/blog/?p=150
http://www.youthrights.org/votestatus.shtml leads with this inspiring collection of precedents:
Countries with a Voting Age under Eighteen:
Age 15 Iran
Age 16 Brazil, Nicaragua, (for local elections: Germany, Austria)
Age 17 Indonesia, East Timor, Sudan, Seychelles, (for local elections: Israel)
Finally, a proposal from Germany for "family voting rights", holding childrens' votes in trust until they're of "able age": http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,962669,00.html (Deutsche Welle, 4 September 2003).