| Summary: | This paper deals with the question of the so-called ‘awareness constraints’, which include the problems of age-related voting rights and the rights of persons whose ability to vote is limited because of their lack of discernment. It examines the regulatory background and constitutional problems surrounding the two areas on the basis of international conventions and practice, as well as relevant views outlined in scholarship. With regard to age-related restrictions, the paper analyzes the possible alternatives (e.g. the possibility of lowering the voting age, or the substitute model), and in the case of persons under guardianship, it evaluates the trends in international practice, looking at how Hungarian practice fits into these trends, and what possibilities for further development there are. One of the main conclusions of the research is that there is a tension between the two types of ‘awareness constraints’, since there are similar arguments against minors’ right to vote, as there are arguments in favor of the full extension of the right to vote for persons under guardianship. This double standard makes it much more difficult to achieve any progress in the area of ‘awareness constraints’.
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