A campaign aimed to bring down the voting age in local council elections to 16 was launched this morning by Local Government Parliamentary Secretary Jose Herrera.

Dr Herrera said the government aimed to have the necessary legislation in place before November.

The campaign 'Vote 16' will include a series of information sessions in which  people aged between 16 and 18 will be the protagonists making proposals and giving ideas.

The campaign was launched as part of the European Youth week activities.

The main aim of the week is to promote active citizenship by encouraging young people to be more active in society both locally and at a European level.

Dr Herrera said that politicians had to understand that with this proposal they had a new teenage constituency as 16-year-olds would have a direct share in the country’s democratic process.

With this step, the government was sending a clear message that it was to continue changing the country, he said.

Youth Parliamentary Secretary Stefan Buontempo said that this new opportunity would encourage more direct youth involvement. It was a proposal that would help young people form their identity giving them a means to be involved in important decisions especially on themes which concerned them.

The lowering of the councils' voting age to 16 is one of the government's electoral promises.