Basel-Stadt parliament approves voting rights from age 16
Wednesday 16th September 2026 on 20:01 in
Switzerland
Basel-Stadt’s parliament has approved lowering the voting age for cantonal and municipal elections from 18 to 16, SRF reported. The amendment to the cantonal constitution passed by 61 votes to 37.
The change would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote, but not stand for election. The minimum age for being elected to office would remain 18.
The debate followed a motion submitted by the Young Greens Alliance and referred to the government in 2019. The Basel-Stadt government subsequently backed the proposal.
The SVP, FDP and LDP opposed the change. It was supported by the Social Democrats, the Greens, BastA, the Green Liberals and a narrow majority of the Centre and Evangelical People’s Party group.
Supporters argued that lowering the voting age would strengthen democracy because young people would be affected by political decisions for a long time. Social Democrat Hanna Bay cited the climate crisis, saying young people should be able to express their views on social change and represent their interests at an early stage.
A representative study by the Centre for Democracy Aarau found that 16- and 17-year-olds were as politically mature as 18- to 25-year-olds. The study, based on a survey of 4,000 young Swiss people published in 2005, found similar levels of political interest and comparable attitudes towards voting as a duty. Younger participants consumed even more political information.
Opponents argued that the civil-law age of majority, which is 18, should not be separated from political rights. The proposal has already been rejected in Basel-Stadt. Voters clearly turned it down in 2009, despite support from the government and parliament. In 2024, voters in Riehen, one of the canton’s two rural municipalities, also clearly rejected voting rights from age 16 at municipal level.
If approved by voters, the change would add about 2,300 eligible voters in Basel-Stadt. The canton’s electorate will have the final say in a ballot.
Voting rights from age 16 have been put to a vote ten times across eight Swiss cantons. Only Glarus has introduced them so far. Graubünden is due to vote on the issue on September 27.