The Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, has lowered the voting age and minimum age for candidates in elections to the European Parliament as of 2029, ERR reports. The amendments will lower the voting age from the current 18 to 16 years and the minimum age for candidates from 21 to 18 years. MPs from the Estonian Reform Party, Estonia 200, and the Social Democratic Party voted for the amendments, while members of Fatherland, the Estonian Centre Party, and the Conservative People’s Party of Estonia voted against. The sponsors of the bill noted that political participation and decision-making power in Estonia were increasingly skewed toward older voters. They argued that the legislative changes would encourage young people to be more active citizens. Young people aged 16 years have been able to vote in Estonia’s municipal elections since 2017. In the municipal elections in October 2025, the number of voters aged 18-24 years rose from 12,000 to nearly 16,000, ERR reported. In the parliamentary elections in 2023, altogether 46% of people aged 18-24 years voted, which was up from just 35% in the elections in 2019.
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