Austrian survey shows benefits of reduced voting age

Research by the Austrian Insititute for Social Research and Analysis (SORA) has shown a reduced voting age for 16-18 year olds increases their motivation to engage politically.  SORA is one of the leading private institutes for social sciences in Austria.  

Young Austrians interested in politics

At the next Austrian general elections, all citizens older than 16 years will be allowed to vote nationwide for the first time. The city of Vienna already passed a law that enabled 16- and 17-year olds to vote at the last local election in 2005. SORA then conducted a post election survey to investigate how young Viennese participated in that election.

High participation

“Results show, that young people are interested in politics”, said Sigrid Nitsch, project coordinator at SORA. Young voters participated at the 2005 election to an almost similar extent as older citizens: 59% of the 16- and 17-year-olds cast their vote, compared to 61% adults. Still, more young women than young men went to the polls at the Viennese local election.

The allowance to vote itself motivated young Viennese to participate in the election. They felt respected by the city of Vienna and got more interested in local policy issues. Many 16- and 17-year olds tried to convince their friends to cast a vote. Furthermore, the study shows that young Viennese respect basic values of democracy.

A copy of the survey's conclusions is accessible at the Sora website

http://www.sora.at/images/doku/sora_isa_kozeluh_voting_with_16_summary.pdf