Plenary amends constitution and gives right to vote to 17 year olds

08:07 - 23 May 2025

Current Affairs Reporter

The Plenary of the Cyprus Parliament has approved a bill amending the Constitution to make it possible to register citizens who have reached the age of seventeen, instead of the current age of eighteen, for the right to vote.

The bill is included in a package of laws tabled by the Government aiming at lowering the minimum age limit for citizens to exercise the right to vote in electoral procedures and to modernise electoral legislation in general, introducing, among other things, legislative regulations regarding the automatic registration of voters on the permanent electoral roll.

According to data submitted to the Home Affairs Committee during the debate on the bill, if the proposed amendments were to enter into force today, 92,129 Cypriot citizens aged seventeen and over would meet the criteria for automatic registration on the electoral roll.

The proposed amendment to the Constitution was deemed necessary to encourage the participation of citizens in the electoral processes and for a more effective functioning of the democratic system.

During the discussion, it was proposed that the constitutional amendment enter into force on 1 July, 2027.

Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou, in a written statement, welcomed today's outcome, stressing that the amendment was a commitment of the Government that had wished for it to come into force in time for the 2026 parliamentary elections. But he clarified that it will come into force for the 2028 presidential elections.

He vowed that the government would continue the effort to simplify and modernise the electoral process with the aim of strengthening democracy and citizen participation.

(Source: CNA)

Plenary amends constitution and gives right to vote to 17 year olds

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