In autumn 2013 federal elections will take place in Austria, where 16- and 17-year-olds are eligible to vote. Austria is thus the perfect country to check if there is empirical evidence for the arguments in favor or against the lowering of the voting age to 16, among them the lack of political interest, knowledge and maturity, probably resulting an a low quality of the vote choice (e.g. Chan and Clayton 2006) or on the other hand, the chance of better preparation in school and higher participation rates ( e.g. Franklin 2004). In this paper we want to analyze if first time voters are ready to vote, and if this readiness is the same for 16- and 17-year olds compared to older first time voters (18-20). Taking up the discussions in the literature we define indicators of being prepared for voting, including political interest, political knowledge, political self efficacy and the propensity to turn out. Our analyses will enhance our knowledge if age matters for being ready to vote.
For our analyses we will use the pre-election dataset to be conducted by June 2013 latest within the Austrian National Election Study (AUTNES).
