Bermuda Lowers Voting Age to 18
HAMILTON, Bermuda — Parliament decided Friday to bring Bermuda into line with the rest of the democratic world by lowering its voting age to 18 from 21.
In a unanimous vote, the 40-member House of Assembly on the British colony agreed to allow teen-agers the vote from June 16, 1990, just two days before the United Kingdom will mark the 20th anniversary of its first election that included 18-year-olds.
The ruling United Bermuda Party had resisted moves to reduce the voting age because it said the large number of teen-agers would have an unbalancing effect on the 30,000-strong electorate.
The opposition Progressive Labor Party has pressed for a reduction in the voting age since 1972. Julian Hall, a party spokesman, said it had been “dragged kicking and screaming” into introducing the measure.
The party has said a proposed referendum on whether capital punishment should be abolished will be delayed so 18-year-olds can take part.
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