Lowered voting age

The party programme expresses strong confidence in young people's ability to make independent decisions about their lives and sees strengthened children's rights as one of the progressive movements' greatest achievements. At the same time the plan wants to build on Sweden's democratization and deepen political rights. To investigate a lowered voting age and pilot activities in certain municipalities is in line with both these commitments.

• confidence in young people's decision-makingdecisive»Vi har ett starkt förtroende för unga människors förmåga att fatta« (party programme ↗)“We have strong confidence in young people's ability to make”
• deepen democracy»Vi vill bygga vidare på Sveriges demokratisering. Vi vill förstärka och« (party programme ↗)“We want to build on Sweden's democratization. We want to strengthen and”
• strengthened children's rights»barnkonventionen och principen att i varje läge se till barnets« (party programme ↗)“the child convention and the principle that in every case consider the child's”
• universal and fair elections»genom allmänna, fria och rättvisa val, där mandaten fördelas proportionellt mellan partier.« (party programme ↗)“through universal, free and fair elections, where mandates are distributed proportionally between parties.”

The plan does not address the voting age. The closest principle is the party programme's requirement that everyone has equal right to influence society's development and that the party wants to develop democratic public administration through reforms. Investigating a lowered voting age and pilot programmes aligns with the reformist stance, but the conclusion is weakly grounded.

• equal right to influencedecisive»Alla har lika rätt att påverka samhällets utveckling.« (party programme ↗)“Everyone has equal right to influence society's development.”
• develop democracy reformistically»Socialdemokratin vill upprätthålla och utveckla den demokratiska samhällsförvaltningen.« (party programme ↗)“Social democracy wants to maintain and develop democratic public administration.”
• equivalent conditions for young people»Alla barn och ungdomar ska ha rätt till likvärdiga villkor« (party programme ↗)“All children and young people shall have the right to equivalent conditions”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan explicitly requires lowering the voting age to 16 years so that young people can engage and influence the future. Investigating a lowering and a pilot programme in a number of municipalities is a direct step towards that commitment. The plan's democratic view, that children and young people are active co-creators of society, points in the same direction.

• lowered voting age to 16decisive»För att öka möjligheterna för dagens unga att engagera sig och påverka vårt framtida samhälle vill vi sänka rösträttsåldern till 16 år.« (party programme ↗)“To increase the opportunities for today's young people to engage and influence our future society we want to lower the voting age to 16 years.”
• young people as co-creators»Barn är aktiva medskapare av samhället och ska inte ses som passiva mottagare av det samhälle som vuxna skapar åt dem.« (party programme ↗)“Children are active co-creators of society and should not be seen as passive recipients of the society that adults create for them.”
• participatory democracy»Vi tror på en demokrati med aktiva och delaktiga medborgare.« (party programme ↗)“We believe in a democracy with active and participating citizens.”
• rule by the people for all»Demokrati betyder folkstyre. Alla bör få möjlighet att arbeta politiskt under någon del av livet.« (party programme ↗)“Democracy means rule by the people. Everyone should have the opportunity to work politically during some part of their life.”

The plan does not address voting age. The closest principle is that liberal democracy shall be cared for, valued and further developed and that decisions shall be made close to those affected, which also speaks for that a pilot scheme is tested in municipalities. Based on that principle an investigation of lowered voting age lies closer to the plan than a rejection, but the evidence is weak.

• further developed democracydecisive»Den liberala demokratin får aldrig tas för given. Den ska vårdas, värnas och vidareutvecklas« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Liberal democracy must never be taken for granted. It shall be cared for, valued and further developed”
• decentralised decision-making»Decentralisera mera. Människor ska få bestämma mer själva, och politiska beslut ska fattas nära dem som berörs.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Decentralise more. People shall get to decide more themselves, and political decisions shall be made close to those affected.”
• local experiments possible»Beslut som endast berör en mer lokal nivå, eller bara individen själv, bör inte flyttas upp till en högre nivå« (party programme ↗)“Decisions that only affect a more local level, or only the individual themselves, should not be moved up to a higher level”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan does not address voting age. The electoral reforms it lists are lowered percentage thresholds in personal voting and separate election days, and it emphasizes that constitutional protection for democracy shall be strong and that constitutional changes require two decisions with an intervening election. That young people shall take increasing responsibility as they age gives no support for a reduction to 16 years. The nearest applicable principle therefore speaks against the counter-proposal.

• voter power via personal votingdecisive»För att förstärka väljarens makt ska procentspärrarna i personvalet sänkas, så att fler av ett partis kandidater tar mandat i samma ordning som de fått personkryss.« (party programme ↗)“To strengthen the voter's power, percentage thresholds in personal voting shall be lowered so that more of a party's candidates take mandates in the same order as they received personal votes.”
• strong constitutional protection»Grundlagsskyddet för demokratin och de individuella fri- och rättigheterna ska vara starkt.« (party programme ↗)“Constitutional protection for democracy and individual freedoms and rights shall be strong.”
• responsibility as they mature»Barn och ungdomar har rätt att respekteras som individer och i takt med åldern få ta ett ökande ansvar för sin egen tillvaro.« (party programme ↗)“Children and young people have the right to be respected as individuals and to take increasing responsibility for their own situation as they grow older.”

The party programme explicitly establishes that the right to vote shall belong to adult Swedish citizens, and in municipal elections all registered who have reached Swedish age of majority. A lowered voting age to 16 years, also in pilot activity, thus conflicts with the plan. The plan satisfies instead young people's influence by their views shall be considered when decisions are made, especially for those who lack the right to vote.

• voting right at age of majoritydecisive»ska tillkomma myndig svensk medborgare« (party programme ↗)“shall belong to adult Swedish citizens”
• younger without voting right shall be heard»Detta är särskilt viktigt när det gäller yngre som saknar« (party programme ↗)“This is especially important when it comes to younger who lack”
• young people's influence in decisions»beakta ungdomars synpunkter när beslut fattas.« (party programme ↗)“consider young people's views when decisions are made.”

The plan says nothing about voting age. The closest underlying principle is that the party's view on political work is anti-radical and reformist and that reforms shall rest on proven experience without endangering earlier progress, which speaks against experimenting with the foundations of voting rights. The plan also establishes that citizens elect their representatives in free and secret elections without hinting at any changed age limit. The demand is therefore rejected on weak grounds.

• proven experiencedecisive»den ska bygga på beprövad erfarenhet och inte äventyra« (party programme ↗)“it shall rest on proven experience and not endanger”
• free and secret elections»Medborgarna ska utse sina politiska representanter« (party programme ↗)“Citizens shall elect their political representatives”

flags: citat_blockerat

The documents do not address voting age. The nearest principle is the party programme's demand for careful advance with changes in small steps, and the election manifesto's rejection of political experiments on children and young people, which speaks against lowering the voting age to 16 and against pilot activities in selected municipalities. That the plan simultaneously wants to strengthen direct democracy is not enough to support the counter-proposal's demand.

• försiktigt framåtskridandedecisive»ett försiktigt framåtskridande« (party programme ↗)“a careful advance”
• förändring i små steg»förändringar i små steg« (party programme ↗)“changes in small steps”
• inga experiment med unga»Avsluta de politiska experimenten på Sveriges barn och unga« (2022 manifesto ↗)“End the political experiments on Sweden's children and young people”
• mer direktdemokrati»Vi förordar också starkare inslag av direktdemokrati« (party programme ↗)“We also advocate stronger elements of direct democracy”