Voting at 16? 16–17‐Year‐Old Germans Vote as Correctly as Adults

Abstract

Lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 years has recently been a hot topic of the political debate in many democratic countries. This study investigated whether the voting quality of 16–17‐year‐olds is inferior to that of the voting population. Shortly before the 2021 German federal election, two samples, representative for age and gender, indicated personal preferences about various political issues and weighted them according to importance, allowing for the calculation of individual expected values for political parties. Participants then indicated their voting choice. These choices were normatively correct when individuals voted for the party that best reflected their preferences, that is, the one maximizing the expected value. Results show that the voting decisions of 16–17‐year‐olds were as good as those by eligible voters. The study indicates that the exclusion of 16–17‐year‐old Germans in democratic elections cannot be justified by their lack of decision‐making ability.