NRW’s local voting age is 16.

Election day determines whether the age condition is met.

Someone turning 16 on election day meets the age condition. Someone turning 16 the following day does not yet meet it for that election. The question concerns local elections, such as elections to a municipal or county council.

Section 7 also requires German citizenship or citizenship of another EU member state. A home, or main home where there are several, must have been in the relevant electoral area since at least the sixteenth day before the election. Alternatively, the Act covers habitual residence there since that date without a home outside the electoral area.

The other three answers

The question asks for the minimum age to cast a vote.

Distinguish voting from standing for election.

Section 12 generally requires voting eligibility, a minimum age of 18 and at least three months of local residence or the habitual residence described by law to stand for a local representative body. Further statutory exclusions must also be checked. That three-month period is not the residence deadline for simply voting under section 7.

Under section 9, casting a vote requires an entry in the electoral register or a polling certificate. Section 8 excludes anyone deprived of voting rights by a court. The study answer 16 does not replace those additional rules.