MOSCOW, October 27 (RAPSI) – Alexei Didenko, a member of parliament with the Liberal Democratic Party, proposed lowering the voting age in Russia from 18 to 16 years, Izvestia newspaper writes on Monday.

The MP said this would increase voter turnout on the unified election day in September.

“The turnout has been decreasing,” Didenko said. By lowering the voting age to 16, we “will increase the electorate and also encourage older citizens to attend elections, because if they don’t, the younger generation will make the choice for them. This way, we’ll ensure an ideal balance, giving young people the right to vote and encouraging the older generation to be more disciplined.”

The MP also said that the bill would not affect the age limit for the nomination of candidates.

Didenko pointed to precedents in global election practices: the voting age is 15 in Iran, 16 in Cyprus, Brazil and Cuba, and 17 in Indonesia.