Government introduced votes at 16 for the first time.
Documentary fact. Malta lowered the voting age to 16 for local council elections in 2015 and extended this to general elections, MEP elections and referenda on 5 March 2018 (Act No. VI of 2018). Malta is the second EU country (after Austria, which moved in 2007) to extend voting rights to 16-year-olds at national level. Both legislative changes happened under PL governments.
Documentary fact. Malta lowered the voting age to 16 for local council elections in 2015 and extended this to general elections, MEP elections and referenda on 5 March 2018 (Act No. VI of 2018). Malta is the second EU country (after Austria, which moved in 2007) to extend voting rights to 16-year-olds at national level. Both legislative changes happened under PL governments.
We tested the claim against (1) Malta's Act No. VI of 2018 amending the Constitution and General Elections Act, (2) the 2015 Local Councils Amendment Act lowering local-council voting age to 16, (3) European Parliament and IDEA International records on EU voting-age comparators, and (4) Maltese Electoral Commission registration data for the 2022 general election (the first national vote where 16-year-olds participated).
True. Malta extended voting rights to 16-year-olds in two distinct stages: 2015 for local council elections (under Joseph Muscat's PL government) and 5 March 2018 for general elections, MEP elections and referenda (also under PL). Both reforms passed Parliament unanimously. Malta became the second EU member state — after Austria, which lowered the voting age to 16 for national elections in 2007 — to extend full national voting rights to 16-year-olds. The 2022 general election was the first parliamentary election in which Maltese 16-year-olds could vote. Limitations: the claim's scope is the act of legislative extension, which is unambiguous; framing the reform as 'first time' refers to first time in Maltese law, which is correct.
Did Malta really introduce vote at 16 for the first time under this government
Voting rights for 16-year-olds is one of the structural democratic reforms PL has championed. The historical record is clean — both legislative changes happened under Labour, in two stages.
Stage 1: 2015 local council elections
Malta first lowered the voting age to 16 for local council elections in 2015. The change came via amendments to the Local Councils Act, allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in their local council elections from the 2015 cycle onwards. This was a relatively low-stakes initial step — local councils have limited devolved powers in Malta — but established the principle.
Stage 2: 2018 general / MEP / referendum elections
On 5 March 2018, Malta extended the franchise to 16-year-olds for:
- General (parliamentary) elections.
- European Parliament elections.
- National referenda.
This made Malta the second EU country to allow 16-year-olds to vote in national elections, after Austria (which did so from 2007 onwards). At the time of the change, Malta was the only other EU member state extending the franchise this way; Belgium subsequently adopted vote-at-16 for European Parliament elections in 2024.
First test at the ballot
The 2022 Maltese general election was the first parliamentary election where 16- and 17-year-olds could vote. The 2024 European Parliament election in Malta was the second European-level cycle in which the youngest cohort could vote (after the 2019 European elections, where it was already in force).
Why 'for the first time' is correct
Buttigieg's 'għall-ewwel darba' (for the first time) refers to Malta specifically — vote at 16 had not previously existed in Maltese elections at any level. Both legislative steps (2015 local, 2018 general) were the first time in Maltese history that 16-year-olds could vote. Both happened under PL administrations.
Wider context
Beyond the EU, vote at 16 also exists in:
- Scotland (devolved elections; from 2014 referendum onwards).
- Wales (devolved elections, from 2021).
- Several Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua).
- Some German Länder for state elections.
Globally, vote at 16 remains the minority rule but is gaining traction in Europe.
So is the claim accurate?
Yes. Malta extended voting rights to 16-year-olds for the first time, in two stages, both under PL governments (2015 local; 2018 general). Verdict: True.