5
It was argued in memorandum XCX (90)20 that there is no indication that public opinion on the issue of voting age has changed significantly since the 1987 Green Paper review (paragraph 3 above). It is questionable whether it would be wise to reopen the debate on this issue now, given that this could lead to controversy about the readiness of the younger generation to be given the vote, and the impact of lowering of the voting age on the political balance. The memorandum therefore recommended that the voting age should remain at 21 years.
Numbers of potential voters in the 18 to 21 age bracket
6
Lowering the voting age would increase the size of the electorate for the 1991 elections. It is estimated that there are about 265,000 persons in the 18 to 20 age bracket, representing about 4.6% of the total population. If 15% were discounted to allow for those who did not meet the 7 years residence requirement, some 225,000 would be eligible to vote. This represents 6.25% of the total potential electorate of approximately 3.6 million people.
Lowering the voting age to 18
7
The arguments in favour of lowering the voting age to 18 are as follows
(a)
(b)
(c)
Government has the Law Reform which a in most
accepted the recommendation of
Commission that the age at person attains legal capacity should cases be reduced from 21 to 18 (e.g. for the purposes of being able to enter into a contract or to
make a will). The Law Reform (Legal Effects of Age) Bill 1989, which seeks to reduce the age of majority from 21 to 18, has already been introduced into the Legislative Council;
allowing young people to vote in elections would improve their political awareness and lend greater meaning to the civic education programme;
persons aged between 18 considered as mature
and 21 years can be as those in other
countries who are given the vote at this age;
Y