Sarah Beckhoff comes from Dortmund, a “red city”, as she says.

When she joined the Junge Union at the age of 14, it was "a small act of rebellion".

It was the time of the global financial crisis and in her private environment she noticed that acquaintances were losing their jobs.

“It was about sustainability for me.

And the Jusos, for example, only asked for more expenses. ”Beckhoff wanted to get involved, but did not choose yet.

Today, at the age of 26, she says: "Why should someone under 18 have a say in the fate of a country if the person is not even allowed to sign a housing contract?"

Tim Niendorf

Political Editor.

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    Konstantin Kuhle, 32 years old, is chairman of the “Young Group” of the FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag and knows too well what it is like to want to help shape politics as a young person. When Kuhle was 13 years old, he pretended to be older than he was. And only to become a member of the Young Liberals, the youth organization of the FDP. He was actually only allowed to enter there when he was 14 years old. Unlike Beckhoff, he is of the opinion: The voting age should be reduced in federal elections - to 16 years.

    The SPD, the Left and the Greens are also calling for this. The three parties each spoke out in favor of this four years ago. The topic could get a further boost after the election in September. On the one hand, if the Greens should provide the Chancellor. On the other hand, because now the liberals are also advocates of the idea. Kuhles party is campaigning for the first time with this demand.

    Kuhle, who is also a lawyer by profession, knows that there are legal concerns in his own party.

    “Some say the voting age cannot be below the age of majority.

    But with a view to the local elections in numerous federal states, that is simply not the case.

    In fact, there is no legally binding connection between being of legal age and the right to vote. ”In an interview with the FAZ, Kuhle points out that many who are voting for the first time are already 19, 20 or 21 years old.

    “So they have been out of the education system for three or four years.

    It would be better if the younger ones could vote for the first time when they are still going to school. ”Then they could be better informed.

    Learn from Austria?

    In Austria, it has long been possible to see the effects of lowering the voting age. Since 2007, citizens of 16 and 17 years of age have been able to have a say at all political levels, for example about who moves into parliament. Sylvia Kritzinger, political scientist at the University of Vienna, has investigated the development since then. The result: the younger first-time voters actually voted more often than the older ones. Meanwhile, the turnout for older first-time voters is about the same, says Kritzinger. This suggests that lowering the voting age will also have a positive effect on young voters in later votes.

    However, Kritzinger says: "Simply lowering the voting age would be naive." Such an electoral law reform must be accompanied by accompanying measures; just as FDP politician Kuhle warned. So: political science in the classroom, including at vocational schools. “18, on the other hand, is the worst age to be released into the role of citizen. There is so much else going on in a young person's life; for many, politics takes a back seat, ”says Kritzinger.