HS Gallup: Little public support for reduction in voting age

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According to a survey commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat, a resounding majority of the residents in the Greater Helsinki area reject the idea of lowering the age limit for municipal, parliamentary, and presidential elections.
      In the survey, citizens were asked whether or not the voting age should be lowered to 16 years in municipal elections. Another question was whether or not the voting age should be similarly reduced for parliamentary and presidential elections.
      Only one in ten residents in the Greater Helsinki area supports lowering the voting age to 16 for parliamentry and presidential elections, while just over a fifth are in favour of lowering the age limit for municipal elections.
     
Respondents aged 18 to 24 would be more confident about lowering the age limit for municipal elections, even though fewer than one in three of them would support the reduction.
      As for parliamentary and presidential elections, the views of young people do not deviate from the average of the population.
     
Party affiliation is loosely linked with the opinions.
      More than one in three people who support the Centre Party and just under a third of the supporters of the Green League would give the right to vote in municipal elections to citizens aged 16 to 17.
      However, supporters of the Social Democratic Party, the Left Alliance and the Swedish People's Party are the least enthusiastic about lowering the age limit for the municipal elections. Fewer than 20 per cent supported the idera. The conservative National Coalition Party voters were little different: only 22 per cent were in favour.
      As for the national elections, the majority of the supporters of all parties reject the idea, while the resistance of the Centre Party voters is not quite as strong as that of the others.
      The poll involved telephone interviews with 1,002 people in Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa. Respondents were all over the age of 18. The margin of error was roughly three percentage points in either direction.
     
The voting age in Finland was reduced from 21 to 20 in 1968, and again to 18 years in 1972. Improving voter turnout has been one of the items in the government programme.
      The decision by the Finnish Lutheran Church to lower the voting age - to 16 - in parish and other elections has fuelled discussion on whether it would be a suitable practice elsewhere.
      One objection, also voiced by teenagers themselves, is that some 16-year-olds would merely vote on the basis of advertising or for the same candidate as their friends.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Minister of Justice opposes lowering of voting age in municipal elections (7.11.2005)

Helsingin Sanomat