Graubünden to vote on lowering voting age to 16 on September 27

On September 27, citizens of the canton of Graubünden vote on an amendment to the cantonal constitution that would lower to 16 the age for voting and for signing cantonal and communal initiatives and referendums. The right to stand for election would remain reserved for adults.

The project stems from a petition submitted in 2019 by the cantonal youth session. Centre party member of parliament Gian Andris Derungs then filed a motion for the constitutional revision, citing the example of Glarus and the goal of involving young people more closely in political life. The government backed the proposal, and the Grand Council approved the motion in 2022. The final bill received the go-ahead from parliament last April and, since it is a constitutional amendment, must now go to a popular vote.

In numerical terms, the scope of the change would be limited: an estimated 2,800 young people would be affected. Its political significance, however, would go beyond the numbers: a "yes" would send a signal of trust toward young people and could revive the debate in other cantons, and perhaps even at the federal level.

An isolated precedent

So far, voting from age 16 is a reality only in the canton of Glarus, where it was introduced by the Landsgemeinde in 2007 after three assembly votes and a very narrow result. Since then, all similar attempts have failed at the ballot box: clear rejections in Basel-Stadt and Uri in 2009, then between 2018 and 2022 in Basel-Landschaft, Zurich, Bern, Neuchâtel, and again in Uri. Aargau and Lucerne also rejected the proposal in the past two years. In other cantons, including Geneva, St. Gallen, Vaud, Schwyz, Thurgau and Jura, parliaments rejected motions on the subject before they even reached a popular vote. In Ticino, a general parliamentary initiative submitted to the Grand Council in mid-2020 has not yet been followed up. At the federal level, an initiative by National Councillor Sibel Arslan was definitively shelved by the National Council in February 2024.

In the 2025 consultation process, a majority of Graubünden's parties came out in favor of the reform; opposed are the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) and the Liberals (FDP/PLR), along with their respective youth wings. Municipalities are also divided: Chur, Davos and Scuol support the reform, while Domat/Ems, Klosters and San Vittore rejected it, pointing to an imbalance between rights and duties.

Supporters see the reform as a response to an aging population and a way to involve politically interested 16- and 17-year-olds in political life. Opponents believe minors lack the necessary political maturity, consider them more vulnerable to influence from social media, and object to separating the right to vote from eligibility for office. The result of the vote is expected in two weeks.