16 Year Old To Vote Analysis

Stepping into a voting booth for a teenager at age 16 or 17 can go either way really. In the article, “Takoma Park 16-year-old savors his history-making moment in the polls” author Annys Shin explains how Ben Miller a 16-year-old who works a part time job and attends high school was part of 350 other 16 and 17-year-olds who were granted the right to vote in municipal elections. Obviously much of the criticism that Takoma City Council received was from the older voters, as they argue that young people barely old enough to drive a car don’t have the experience as well as the perspective to vote. Nevertheless, I believe that even if teenagers at this age are not the most experienced, the City Council should still allow 16 and 17-year olds to vote.

On the other hand, many people who want the voting age to remain the same claim that at age 16 or 17 there’s no burning issues to motivate or interest teenage voters. If the justification for lowering the voting age was to to boost voter turnout there was plenty of other solutions presented in the article. Shin states“Other possible changes include same-day registration, allowing paroled felons to vote, and giving candidates easier access to apartment buildings to campaign.” This only reinforces the importance of young voters to Council members because as stated in the article, “reports from Denmark suggest that younger teenagers are more likely to cast a ballot than slightly older peers.” At such a young age teenagers are taught to take action and strive towards creating a better future for themselves and starting at grassroots level with municipal elections in my opinion is the perfect way to start. Offering that type of responsibility and connection from elected officials to younger teens could get them in the habit of voting and taking action for the rest of their lives. Likewise, if 16 and 17-year-olds are able to get a driver 's permit and take on that much responsibility than they deserve to get a chance to

All things considered if the council wanted to boost turnout, they could’ve put the issue on the ballot, there were other solutions. It 's understandable, as a 17 year old myself I see the way some 16 and 17-year-olds are and I’d be cautious to grant them voting rights too but as stated before, I believe that although we lack experience, the City Council should still allow 16 and 17-year olds to vote. Obviously, it will be up to the City Council members to implement certain justifications to ensure that the teenagers registering to vote are both knowledgeable and interested in voting. If the problem is voter turnout every extra vote counts and with a little background knowledge even the smallest amount can make a difference.Voting is afterall a privilege and thus should not have any discriminations no matter what sex, color, race or