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City council has passed a motion urging the province to explore the possibility of lowering the voting age in Alberta’s municipal elections to 16.

Council narrowly supported the motion in a 7-6 vote. Coun. George Chahal said he was pleased that his proposal aimed at engaging more Calgarians on civic issues at a younger age won over his colleagues.

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“We really need to engage and involve our young adults in the electoral process. We can improve voter turnout. We can create lifelong voters, studies have shown, if you start at the age of 16 and 17,” Chahal said Monday.

“I think it’s really important. It also gives young adults a voice in the process.”

But Chahal’s motion wasn’t universally popular with his council colleagues, a number of whom voted against the proposal.

Some city councillors questioned the idea of lowering the voting age on the basis that few 16-year-olds pay taxes and therefore don’t have enough “skin in the game” to make decisions.