What the coalition building exercise (SPD-Greens-FDP) is leading to? Rumor has it....on the draft agreement....they will agree to allow 16-year-old Germans the right to vote in both the EU and German federal elections. Likely passage? If the rumors hold....by the end of 2022....it'll be written into the Constitution.
The next EU election? 2024, no month discussed yet.
The next German federal election? Fall of 2025 (unless the coalition falters).
My general reaction? I'm one of those people who'd raise the age to 21, if you gave me the choice.
How this drop from 18 to 16 is constructed? Most Germans will say a 'kid' is an adult by age 16, because of the apprenticeship situation, and that beer/wine is readily sold to 16-year-olds.
How many votes are we talking about adding? The number often discussed is two-million.
Out of the two-million....how many are first-generation Germans? Well....that's not an openly discussed number, and if you asked for a humble guess....I'd say presently around 10-percent are a first-generation German.
How many would vote in this new age group? Unknown.....although I would offer the suggestion that it'd probably reach near 90-percent on the 2025 election.
Making the case that they probably aren't ready for something like this? I hate to say it....but you could make the same case for 10-percent of Germans adults....going up to age 65 as well.
The possibility in the next decade....that a youth push will occur, and you start to see Chancellor candidates of age 25? Well....it sounds like comical and unlikely. But when you gaze over at Austria and Kurz...I might suggest that someone is going joining up with the Green Party at age 21 today and by 2025....they will establish themselves potentially as a candidate for Chancellor.
I should add that no age limit is established for Chancellor....other than being a minimum of 18 years old to be a member of the Bundestag.
So settle back and view the developing situation.
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