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1. Young people as voters

2. Young people as political representatives

Young people as voters

In Malta, the minimum voting age is sixteen years, and this applies to all elections, including national parliamentary elections, local council elections, European Parliament elections and national referenda. The change was implemented in two phases: sixteen‑year‑olds were granted the right to vote in local council elections in 2015, and this right was extended to national, European and referendum elections in 2018, thereby completing the full incorporation of Vote 16 into the national electoral framework.

Electoral registration processes further facilitate youth participation by ensuring that any person who turns sixteen by polling day is automatically added to the rolling electoral register, which is updated in the days following the issuance of an election writ. This automatic inclusion supports the seamless participation of new young voters (Electoral Commission of Malta).

Significant legislative developments occurred in late 2023. Historically, sixteen‑ and seventeen‑year‑olds were able to vote and contest local elections but were prohibited from becoming mayors or deputy mayors even if they received the highest number of votes. Following a legislative reform introduced in October 2023 and approved unanimously in December 2023, Malta now allows sixteen‑ and seventeen‑year‑old councillors to serve as mayors and deputy mayors. This was achieved through amendments to the Local Government Act, marking Malta as the first EU member state to permit individuals under eighteen to hold such offices.

The legislative reform also stipulates that mayors under the age of eighteen are legally empowered to sign binding documents, including contracts and cheques, in the execution of their official functions. This represents a considerable expansion of the functional responsibilities available to young elected officials. 

Youth‑specific turnout data remains limited in Malta. The first recorded participation of sixteen‑year‑olds in the 2015 local council elections produced a youth turnout rate of 62.3% . In the 2019 local council and European Parliament elections, turnout was reported only for the general adult population, which stood at 72.7%, with no disaggregation by age. Turnout in the 2022 national elections reached 85.6%, again without youth-specific data. In the 2024 European Parliament elections, total national turnout stood at 72.82%, with no breakdown provided for young people. 

Young people as political representatives

Young people in Malta engage in representative democracy through political parties and through opportunities to stand as candidates at the local, national and European levels. Malta’s main political parties maintain active youth structures, though these are not mandated by any national legislation. Within the Labour Party, Forum Żgħażagħ Laburisti (FŻL) includes members aged sixteen to thirty‑five; the Nationalist Party’s Moviment Żgħażagħ Partit Nazzjonalista (MŻPN) represents members aged sixteen to thirty; and Kollettiv Żgħażagħ Ekoloġisti, part of ADPD – The Green Party, includes members aged sixteen to thirty‑five. These organisations aim to ensure youth perspectives are integrated into party policies and decision‑making processes.

Candidacy rules differ by electoral level. To stand for election to the national House of Representatives, an individual must be at least eighteen years old (IPU Parline). For local council elections, the minimum age is sixteen, which opens opportunities for youth leadership at the grassroots level (Times of Malta, 11 October 2023). Candidacy for the European Parliament follows the same minimum age requirement as national elections. There are no youth quotas or reserved seats at any level of elected office in Malta.

A major legal milestone was the Local Government (Amendment) Act XLI of 2023, passed in December 2023, which permits sixteen‑ and seventeen‑year‑old councillors to occupy the roles of mayor and deputy mayor. This amendment is aligned with commitments made within Malta’s National Local Government Strategy and reflects an explicit political intention to empower younger generations in governance roles.

With respect to youth representation in national parliament, data from the Inter‑Parliamentary Union indicates that six percent of Members of Parliament are under the age of thirty, amounting to six MPs at the start of the legislature. More broadly, fifty‑one percent of MPs are forty‑five or younger, indicating a relatively youthful parliamentary composition compared with other European states. No youth caucus or special parliamentary structure dedicated to youth exists within the House of Representatives.