Why Shouldn`t the Legal Voting Age Be Lowered to 16

In this article, we test whether these reviews are right. Are young people under the age of 18 less able and motivated to participate effectively in political life? And do these factors influence whether and how they exercise their right to vote? If the answer to these questions is yes, lowering the voting age could indeed have negative consequences for the health of democracy. If the answer is no, then critics probably have fewer arguments as to why we should be against lowering the voting age. Instead, we could consider the possible positive consequences of reform, such as linking young people to the democratic process, encouraging the development of voting habits and ensuring that their interests are represented. From this critical point of view, young citizens under the age of 18 lack the capacity and motivation to engage effectively in politics. Since our goal is to test the arguments of critics for lowering the voting age, our assumptions are as follows: The United States has one of the lowest voter turnout rates among developed countries. [18] A person who participates in an election is 13% more likely to participate in a future election. [19] The researchers state that people who vote when they reach voting age are likely to develop the habit of voting, and those who do not are more likely to remain non-voting. [20] [21] 4In Austria, the voting age for the 2007 National Council elections was lowered to 16. Five German Länder have also raised the minimum voting age to 16, and the reform is now officially supported by all major British parties except the Conservatives (votes at 16 in 2008).

Persons under the age of 18 are subject to various laws on labor, contracts, and criminal liability and cannot join the military or serve on a jury without parental consent. [13] [14] [15] [16] Most still live at home and would be influenced by their parents` choice. [17] 7Rather than the expected long-term positive effect, such as promoting the right to vote as a habit (Franklin et al., 2004), lowering the voting age may therefore encourage habitual non-voting (Electoral Commission, 2004). He said: “I am in favour of setting the voting age at 18 because it is a very symbolic threshold. It is the age of adulthood and the full ownership of your actions in society. Yes, a 16-year-old can get married and have children, but again, I do not see why that justifies voting in any way. In summary, our results show that a central criticism of lowering the voting age to 16 does not apply: there is little evidence that these citizens are less able or motivated to participate effectively in politics. This means that critics of lowering the voting age to 16 need to reconsider their arguments and that there are important reasons to take a closer look at the potential positive effects of such a reform. Government decisions affect the lives of adolescents. So more teens deserve a voice in how their city is run, some people say. Moreover, voting is a habit, others say. People who start voting at age 16 may be more likely to vote than adults.

1924A new law declares Native Americans to be U.S. citizens. This means they can choose. Some states are preventing Native Americans from voting anyway. 1975The Voting Rights Act is expanded to help U.S. citizens who do not speak English. Cities with large non-English speaking populations must provide ballots and voting instructions in other languages. Just because young people participate in protests doesn`t mean they`re ready to vote, critics of lowering the voting age say. “Protesting is not the same as voting, which requires a high level of civic responsibility and knowledge,” says David Davenport, a researcher at Stanford University`s Hoover Institution in California. Another poll showed that 8 per cent were in favour of lowering the voting age to 16; 45% want to keep it at 18; and 46% want to reduce it to 21. [40] Youth participation in voting can trickle down, mobilizing their parents and other adults in their household to vote and increasing overall voter turnout. [24] [25] Voter turnout among 16- and 17-year-olds in Takoma Park, Maryland, the first U.S.

municipality to lower the voting age for local elections, was twice as high as that of voters 18 and older. [26] From the 1990s to the present, elected officials in several U.S. states have tried unsuccessfully to lower the voting age to 16 and sometimes even younger. [1] Student activism after February. The 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, breathed new life into the debate about youth participation in elections. [2] 1990The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that persons with disabilities have a “full and equal” choice. States must make all aspects of the electoral process – from registration to polling stations – accessible to people with disabilities. Finally, our study leaves many questions for future research. A particularly important issue – especially in light of our results in the 18-21 age group – is the existence of a voting habit among adolescents (Franklin, 2004).

In particular, it may be easier to teach the habit of voting to those who are still in school and living at home. However, adherence to a custom requires longer-term data, and citizens under the age of 18 have only had the right to vote in Austria for four years and in a regional election. We hope that future research will examine whether today`s teens are more likely to develop a habit of voting than citizens who were able to vote for the first time at an older age. 1971The voting age was raised from 21 to 18. Young Americans had argued that if they were old enough to fight in the Vietnam War (1962-1975), they were old enough to vote. We examine the decisions of young people under the age of 18 using data from Austria, where the voting age for national elections was lowered to 16 in 2007. In particular, we use a survey carried out in the run-up to the 2009 European Parliament (EP) elections, in which young people under the age of 26 were given an oversample. With the Austrian reform, we can examine for the first time whether the critics of lowering the minimum voting age are right. So far, the only possible empirical strategy has been either to extrapolate the behaviour of citizens under the age of 18 from that of voters just over 18, or to examine the potential voting behaviour of young people under the age of 18 in a context where they did not have the right to vote. Voting is an important responsibility.

But young teens may not take it seriously, some people say. Others argue that many young people don`t know enough about government. They may not understand what they are voting on until they get older. Young people are affected by local political issues as much as anyone else. They also work without limits on working hours and pay taxes on their income, can drive in most states and, in some cases, are tried in adult courts. Sixteen and 17-year-olds deserve the right to vote on issues that affect them at the local level. Moreover, voting is the most reliable way for ordinary citizens to influence government. Lowering the voting age would require local politicians to listen to sixteen and 17-year-olds and address their concerns. Lowering the voting age is difficult under the law.

Federal law, since the wording of the 26th Amendment, provides that citizens over the age of 18 cannot be denied the right to vote on the basis of their age. The Constitution could arguably be amended again to change the age to 16, although the bar for such changes is high and two-thirds of both houses of Congress and three-quarters of state lawmakers must agree. However, the real place for change would be in state legislatures, as states essentially control elections under the constitution. The efforts of cities like San Francisco and both Maryland cities can only influence their own local elections, which are likely to have limited interest in teenagers just as they are in other voters. 1.b.