Age of candidacy

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Age of candidacy is the minimum age at which a person can legally hold certain elected government offices. In many cases, it also determines the age at which a person may be eligible to stand for an election or be granted ballot access.

The first known example of a law enforcing age of candidacy was the

magistrates.[1]

Controversies

In 1972, Linda Jenness ran for president of the United States, although she was 31 at the time.

Many youth rights groups view current age of candidacy requirements as unjustified age discrimination.[2] Occasionally people who are younger than the minimum age will run for an office in protest of the requirement or because they do not know that the requirement exists. On extremely rare occasions, young people have been elected to offices they do not qualify for and have been deemed ineligible to assume the office.

In 1934,

U.S. Constitution requires senators to be at least 30, Holt was forced to wait until his 30th birthday, six months after the start of the session, before being sworn in.[3]

In 1954,

Tennessee State Constitution required that senators be at least 30.[4] Rather than hold a new election, the previous incumbent, Clifford Allen, was allowed to resume his office for another term. Fulton went on to win the next State Senate election in 1956 and was later elected to the U.S. House of Representatives
where he served for 10 years.

In 1964,

eligible for the House after turning 25 on his birthday, 27 December 1964, seven days before his swearing in, making him the youngest legally elected and seated member of the United States Congress ever.[5]

In South Carolina, two Senators aged 24 were elected, but were too young according to the State Constitution: Mike Laughlin in 1969 and Bryan Dorn (later a U.S. congressman) in 1941. They were seated anyway.[6]

On several occasions, the

Socialist Workers Party (USA) has nominated candidates too young to qualify for the offices they were running for. In 1972, Linda Jenness ran as the SWP presidential candidate, although she was 31 at the time. Since the U.S. Constitution requires that the President and Vice President be at least 35 years old, Jenness was not able to receive ballot access in several states in which she otherwise qualified.[7] Despite this handicap, Jenness still received 83,380 votes.[8] In 2004, the SWP nominated Arrin Hawkins as the party's vice-presidential candidate, although she was 28 at the time. Hawkins was also unable to receive ballot access in several states due to her age.[9]

Reform efforts

In the United States, many groups have attempted to lower age of candidacy requirements in various states. In 1994, South Dakota voters rejected a ballot measure that would have lowered the age requirements to serve as a State Senator or State Representative from 25 to 18. In 1998, however, they approved a similar ballot measure that reduced the age requirements for those offices from 25 to 21.[10] In 2002, Oregon voters rejected a ballot measure that would have reduced the age requirement to serve as a State Representative from 21 to 18.

During the early 2000s, the

Electoral Administration Act 2006 entered into force.[13]

International standards

International electoral standards which are defined in the International Public Human Rights Law, allow restricting candidacy on the basis of age. The interpretation of the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights offered by the United Nations Human Rights Committee in the General Comment 25 states "Any conditions which apply to the exercise of the rights protected by article 25 (of the ICCPR) should be based on objective and reasonable criteria. For example, it may be reasonable to require a higher age for election or appointment to particular offices than for exercising the right to vote, which should be available to every adult citizen."[14]

In various countries

Australia

In Australia a person must be aged 18 or over to stand for election to public office at federal, state or local government level.

The youngest ever member of the House of Representatives was 20-year-old Wyatt Roy elected in the 2010 federal election after the Electoral Act 1918 was amended (in 1973) to reduce the age of candidacy for that office from 21 to 18.[15]

Austria

In

Länder are able to set a minimum age lower than 18 for to be in the polls in elections to the Diet itself as well as to municipal councils in the Land.[17]
In presidential elections the candidacy age is 35.

Belgium

Any Belgian who has reached the age of 18 years can stand for election for the Chamber of Representatives, can become a member of the Senate, or can be elected in one of the regional parliaments.[18] This is regulated in the Constitution (Art. 64) and in the Special Law on the Reform of the Institutions.

Belize

According to the

Prime Minister must be at least 18 years old. A person must also be at least 18 years old to be elected to a village council.[19]

Brazil

The Brazilian Constitution (Article 14, Section 3 (VI)) defines 35 years as the minimum age for someone to be elected president, Vice-President or Senator; 30 years for state Governor or Vice-Governor; 21 for Federal or State Deputy, Mayor or Vice-Mayor; and 18 for city Councilman.[20]

Canada

In Canada, to be eligible to run for elected office (municipal, provincial, federal) one must be a minimum of 18 years or older on the day of the election.[21] Prior to 1970, the age requirement was 21 along with the voting age.

However, to be appointed to the Senate (Upper House), one must be at least 30 years of age, must possess land worth at least $4,000 in the province for which they are appointed, and must own real and personal property worth at least $4,000, above their debts and liabilities.[22]

In the province of Ontario, Sam Oosterhoff, a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, was first elected at the age of 19 in a November 2016 by-election, the youngest Ontario MPP to ever be elected. [23]

Pierre-Luc Dusseault (born May 31, 1991) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 2011 federal election at the age of 19, becoming the youngest Member of Parliament in the country's history. He was sworn into office two days after his 20th birthday. He was re-elected in 2015 but lost his seat in the 2019 Canadian federal election.[24]

Central African Republic

Article 36 of the 2016

President must "be aged thirty-five (35) years at least [on] the day of the deposit of the dossier of the candidature".[25]

Chile

In Chile the minimum age required to be elected President of the Republic is 35 years on the day of the election. Before the 2005 reforms the requirement was 40 years, and from 1925 to 1981 it was 30 years. For senators it is 35 years (between 1981 and 2005 it was 40 years) and for deputies it is 21 years (between 1925 and 1970 it was 35 years).[26]

China

In China the minimum age to be elected as president or vice-president is 45.[27] All citizens who have reached the age of 18 have the right to vote and stand for election.[28]

Cyprus

In Cyprus the minimum age to be elected president is 35 years. The minimum age to run for the House of Representatives was 25 years until the Constitution was amended in 2019 to lower the limit to 21.[29]

Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic, a person must be at least 18-years-old to be elected in local elections. A person must be at least 21 years old to be elected to the lower house of the Czech Parliament or to the European Parliament and 40 years old to be a member of the upper house (Senate) of the Parliament[30] or the President of the Czech Republic.

Denmark

In Denmark, any adult 18 years of age or older can become a candidate and be elected in any public election.

Estonia

In Estonia, any citizen 18 years of age or older can be elected in local elections, and 21 years or older in parliamentary elections. The minimum age for the President of Estonia is 40.[31]

France

In France, any citizen 18 years of age or older can be elected to the lower house of Parliament, and 24 years or older for the Senate. The minimum age for the President of France is 18.[citation needed]

Germany

In Germany a citizen must be 18 or over to be elected at the national level, like the Chancellor, and this age to be elected at the regional or local level. A person must be 40 or over to be President.

Greece

In Greece, those aged 25 years old and over who hold Greek citizenship are eligible to stand and be elected to the Hellenic Parliament.[32] All over 40 years old are eligible to stand for presidency.

Hong Kong

In Hong Kong a person must be at least 21 to be candidate in a district council or Legislative Council election.

Chief Executive election, and also at least 40 to be candidate in the election for the President of the Legislative Council from among the members of the Legislative Council.[35]

Iceland

For the office of President, any Icelandic citizen who has reached the age of 35 and fulfills the requirement necessary to vote in elections to the Althing is eligible to be elected president.[36]

India

In India a person must be at least:

Criticism has been on the rise to decrease the age of candidacy in India. Young India Foundation has been working on a campaign to decrease the age of candidacy in India for MPs and MLAs to better reflect the large young demographic of India.[37]

Indonesia

In Indonesia a person must be at least:

  • 40 to be President or Vice President or has or is currently holding a position elected through general elections, including regional head elections as specified in the Constitution of Indonesia[citation needed]
  • 30 to be Governor or Lieutenant Governor, as specified in the 2004 Regional Government Act[citation needed]
  • 25 to be Regent, Vice Regent, Mayor, or Deputy Mayor, as specified in the 2004 Regional Government Act[citation needed]
  • 21 to be Senator or Representative in both national and local parliament, as specified in the 2008 Election Act[citation needed]

Israel

In

Government Minister, or elected as President of Israel, but the latter role is mostly ceremonial and elected by the Parliament.[citation needed
]

Italy

In

Deputy, as specified in the 1947 Constitution of Italy
. 18 years of age is sufficient, however, to be elected member of the Council of Regions, Provinces, and Municipalities (Communes).

Iran

In Iran a person must be at least 21 years old to run for president.[38]

Iraq

The Iraqi constitution states that a person must be at least 40 years old to run for president[39] and 35 years old to be Prime Minister.[40] Until 2019, the electoral law set the age limit at 30 years old for candidates to run for the Council of Representatives.[41] However, the new Iraqi Council of Representatives Election Law (passed in 2019, yet to be enacted) lowered the age limit to 28.[42]

Ireland

The 1937 Constitution of Ireland requires the President to be at least 35 and members of the Oireachtas (legislature) to be 21.[43][44] Members of the European Parliament for Ireland must also be 21.[44][45] Members of local authorities must be 18, reduced from 21 in 1973.[44][46] The 1922–1937 Constitution of the Irish Free State required TDs (members of the Dáil, lower house) to be 21,[47] whereas Senators had to be 35 (reduced to 30 in 1928).[48] The Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2015 proposed to lower the presidential age limit to 21.[49] However, this proposal was rejected by 73% of the voters.

Japan

In Japan a person must be at least:[50]

Lithuania

In Lithuania a person must be at least:

Luxembourg

In Luxembourg a person must be at least 18-years-old to stand as a candidate to be a member of the Chamber of Deputies, the country's unicameral national legislature.[51]

Malaysia