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submitted 8 months ago by BrikoX@lemmy.zip to c/globalnews@lemmy.zip

Teenagers in Belgium must vote in upcoming European elections, the country's constitutional court has ruled - ten days before the deadline to register to vote.

Archived version: https://archive.ph/J7L6B

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[-] force@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

i get your point but in belgium the legal «majorité sexuelle» (basically translates to sexual adulthood / sexual majority, it's the equivalent of age of consent and when you are no longer considered a sexual minor) begins at 16.

but really, base it off of consent to what? where is the legal line for if you're old enough to vote in a country? is it when you can sexually consent (16 with Romeo and Juliet exemptions within 2 years, so in some cases 14/15), or when you can pay taxes (18), or when you can do drugs (18), or more specifically alcohol (sometimes 16), or when you can own a gun (18 and must have no criminal record and must be mentally evaluated), or when you can be elected to parliament (21), or when you can gamble (21), or when you can fly an airplane (16), or when you can drive a car (18)? i don't get why the age of consent is your specific threshold, especially considering you having sex has little to do with your ability to make an informed decision while voting and get political representation. if anything it would make a lot more sense to base it off of something like civil majority (18) imo.

this post was submitted on 23 Mar 2024
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