Baden-Württemberg: voting age is to drop to 16 years

Stuttgart - The Greens, CDU and SPD have agreed to reform the state electoral law in Baden-Württemberg. "A parliament that is younger, more diverse and more feminine - we have promised that and we will deliver", underlined the leader of the Greens in the Baden-Württemberg state parliament, Andreas Schwarz, according to the Stuttgarter Zeitung.

The chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in the Stuttgart parliament, Manuel Hagen, promised a “state-of-the-art electoral law”. The reform is planned to be launched in November.

The plans of the three parties provide for the voting age to be reduced from 18 to 16 years. A two-vote right to vote, similar to that used in the federal government, is also provided. In addition, special regulations for the counting of votes are intended to ensure that more women and young people will move into parliament in the future. So far, a single vote has applied in Baden-Württemberg. There are no state lists and the constituencies design their ballot papers differently.

Taxpayers' Association warns of "XXL parliament"
The three-party alliance had previously negotiated with the FDP. However, this had withdrawn from the talks with reference to an impending inflation of the state parliament. The Liberals then submitted their own proposals, which the Greens rejected as "half-baked". The number of constituencies should be reduced from about 70 to 60.

The taxpayers 'association praised the liberals' plans and warned of an oversized state parliament. “In Baden-Württemberg we have to pay attention to the expenses and costs with regard to the reform of the electoral law. We cannot have an XXL state parliament,” warned its state chairman Zenon Bilaniuk according to Stuttgarter Nachrichten.

Source: Junge Freiheit