Austrian National Youth Council- Status quo until 2007

- Arguments Pro & Cons

- OJV Campaigns

- Changes since 2007

- What‘s next?

- Open questions

Patrick Rosner, Board Member of the Austrian National Youth Council

Lowering the Electoral Age

1) Until 2007: Voting Age in Austria

- in three of nine Federal States voting age was already lowered on local and regional level

- in two Federal States the voting age for regional or local elections was 16 years

- in four Federal States the voting age was 18 years in general

2) Analysis: Voting behaviour of young voters

- connected to regional elections Vienna 2005

Results:- high voter participation among young people: 3 out of 4 went to the polls

- motivation was their right of co-determination and their voting rights

- common arguments against the lowering of the electoral age are no longer plausible

3) Common arguments against (CONs)

- young people are (politically) immature

- young people do have a more radical voting behaviour

- young people do not want to vote by themselves

- young people do have enough possibilities to participate

4) Counter arguments (PROs)

+ young people are able to act responsibly and to reflect their own behaviour

+ young people make knowledge-based decisions

+ young people are interested in politics and want to get reliable information

+ young people should have rights that fit their duties

5) OJV Campaigns: Youth Convent

In 2002 there was a convent to change the constitution in Austria.

All political players were invited to this constitutional convent, but not the Austrian youth council.

So we organized a parallel event called the Youth Convent! There we discussed about the ideas of the youth for the constitution. This was the first time we brought the topic “vote@16” to the politicians. A lot of them joined us at our Youth Convent.

5) OJV Campaigns: Youth Convent

We organized also 2 mediaevents in front of the house of parliament, where also the constitution convent was held.

The first event was called:We have to stay out!No place for the youth at the constitution convent!

5) OJV Campaigns: Youth Convent Event

“Wahlaltersenker”The second event was also in front of the parliament. We produced a “medicament” which is lowering the voting age. We distributed it to all representatives of the parliament.

6) OJV Campaigns: Wal (16)

- booklet with information about the different situation in the Federal States, about the positions of the political parties in Austria and PROs and CONs related to the topic

poster & stickers

7) OJV Campaigns: vote4future (2002 – 2006)

- the aim of the campaign was to motivate young people to vote

and to spread information about the voting rights

- the campaign was also used to lobby for the lowering of the

voting age.

- a central tool of the campaign was the website

www.vote4future.at

- other tools: freecards, posters, folders, stickers, give aways

- vote4future was organised six times

7) OJV Campaigns: vote4future

„Deine Stimme hat Gewicht“

Your voice has weight!

Start of vote4future-campaign for the election to the European Parlament in 2004

7) OJV Campaigns: vote4future

vote4future - Tour d‘Autriche

7) OJV Campaigns: vote4future

„Take a desicion“

„Move your ass“

7) OJV Campaigns: vote4future

- presidental election in 2004- federal elections in Salzburg & Vorarlberg- federal election in Vienna & Burgenland- national elections in 2006

8) OJV Campaigns: Jugendagenda 06

- a catalogue of the 10 biggest demands for the future of youth in Austria was developed by Austrian youth council

- We presented and discussed it in public talks with the top candidates of the parties running for parliament (“Candidates corners”)

- lowering the electoral age and improving the possibilities of political participation for young people was a high-priority- demand in this campaign

8) OJV Campaigns: Jugendagenda 06

Candidates corners

Press conference

9) Changes since Januar 2007

- new government was elected in October 2006

- since January 2007 there is a coalition between socialists and conservatives

- they agreed to lower the voting age to 16 in their coalition pact

- Parliament adopted the new voting law in June 2007

10) What’s next in politics?

- Federal States are forced to adopt their laws

- next regional elections (Lower Austria and Tyrol) will take place in 2008

- First election for all youngsters (16 and 17 years old) will be the election for the European parliament in 2009

10) What’s next in Austrian youth council?

- one big event for the election in Lower Austria is already planned by the Austrian youth council for the year 2008

- analysis of the election on federal level in 2008

- maybe a campaign for the European election in 2009

11) Open questions for the future

- Will the reform lead to a growth of democracy in general as well as to a better balance in the generational distribution of political power in particular?

- Will the reform positively affect the level of children’s and youth participation, both quantitatively and qualitatively?

- Will the reform have a substantive influence on the political agenda?

- Which dynamics will be initiated by the reform, both over time and geographically?