In a newly published study financed by the Otto Brenner Foundation (OBS), Prof. Dr. Thorsten Faas and Arndt Leininger, PhD, have empirically investigated preconditions, consequences, opportunities, and risks of lowering the voting age to 16 years. The study aims to provide an empirical input to the controversial, often primarily normative discussion about the voting age. The study is based on a large-scale survey of young people aged 15 to 24 in Brandenburg and Saxony. It was designed as a post-election survey. In both states, state elections took place on September 1^st, 2019 – with one crucial difference: Young people aged 16 and 17 were eligible in Brandenburg, but not in Saxony. “We find little evidence that speaks against lowering the voting age”, concludes principal investigator Arndt Leininger. However, particular attention should be paid to social inequality that could possibly even increase as a consequence of lowering the voting age.