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The Pros And Cons Of Lowering The Voting Age

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Momentum is building around the world to lower the voting age to 16 years. A similar shift occurred in the 1970s when the age was reduced from 21 to 18.

Some nations have already made the shift, with voting in national or local elections occurring at age 16 in Austria, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, the Philippines, Argentina, Nicaragua, Brazil and Ecuador.

Others are in the process of debating this. At the recent British election, the Labour Party and Liberal Democrats committed to lowering the voting age to 16. This followed the successful experiment of granting 16-year-olds the right to vote in the referendum on Scottish independence. It is expected that the vote will soon be extended to them generally for elections to the Scottish Parliament. …show more content…

In the process of becoming a state, the Northern Territory has passed a law providing for the election of a constitutional convention to debate a new constitution. That law permits 16- and 17-year-olds not only to vote, but also to stand for the convention.

Most recently, the member for Strathfield, Jodi McKay, called for the NSW Parliament to "lead debate on changing the legal age of voting in NSW to 16 years of age". She argued that "the fact that these young people are unable to have an immediate say on the future of education, on TAFE, on the environment, on health services and public transport, I believe does us a disservice".

McKay has a point, and now is the time to start a community conversation about lowering the voting age. My view is that it should be reduced to 16 by way of a cautious, incremental path.

It is difficult to get 18-year-olds to enrol and vote, in part because this can be a time of great upheaval in their lives. Many are moving from school to university or into employment, often out of home, and are forming new relationships. Joining the electoral roll can be low on their list of

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Ever since the 26th amendment was passed, eighteen year olds were allowed to vote. This new voting age led to this new age group showing less representation than older groups. It was then thought of in the Montgomery County to try and change this, so they lowered the voting age to sixteen. This new way of thinking was brought up to try and bring up the amount of young voters they see less of in elections. I support this new change because it seems like a good idea to let younger people have the chance to voice their opinions.

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Given the general dejection that faces this state political process currently, changing the voting age to 16 and upward will really get young people thrilled. Allowing 16- years old and upward the right to vote while still living with their parents would encourage a habit that will continue once they leave their nest. Teenagers who come from a non-politically active household tend to take on their parents political views, if such teenagers sees other teenagers participating in a local election, they would be encouraged to turn out putting behind their inherited non political participation views from their parents. Teenagers are the future of the states, the voting age adult who don’t turn out during election will soon expire and the youth who will eventually make it an habit to go vote will replace

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In 1971 the United States ratified the 26th Amendment of the constitution lowering the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen and today they are faced with another difficult decision on whether to lower it again. Many young sixteen year-olds want the vote and have many arguments to get it lowered, but the argument against them is strong. There are many experts on teen psychology that have been discussing the topic on whether the teen mind can handle the type of responsibility it takes to vote and whether or not they should have the right to do so. Many argue the fact on maturity level or amount of experience, but the real question is what teenagers really care about getting the right to vote? Will lowering the voting age help today’s society,

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Looking back about 40 years in our country’s history, the 26th Amendment was passed, granting 18-year olds the right to vote; ultimately opening a gateway for the younger generation to partake in their civic duty. Therefore, demonstrating our country’s progression towards constructing a beneficial and working government for the people. As we fast forward to today’s society, we notice that the eagerness of involvement in politics by 16 and 17 year olds have dramatically increased. Which leave many befuddled on whether they should be allowed to vote. However, I do believe 16 and 17 year olds should be given the right to vote because many teenagers are politically involved, taking a government class, and have continually been trying to learn more about our government.

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The voting age should remain the same as it is currently. At the age of sixteen your not even by law a adult to play a part of polotics you should atleast be of age. If the age to vote was to be lowered there could be minors picking someone just to pick they would not even have a reason or some statements to show why they voted for the person they did. The older voter would not be fond of the vote age being lowered because there could be a possibility of the minor votings rank up to more votes than them. If the younger voters had more votes than the aboved age voters they would lose to minors ho had no clue of who they voted for it would be just a name they picked.

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However, there hasn’t really been a crowd of students or a school protesting on how the country should lower down the voting age and that’s why there has been nothing done because it shows that if they really cared about voting then they would do something about it. For instance, not even 18 years old pay attention to voting since that’s when “many of them are in the midst of leaving their childhood homes. As you get more disrupted in your life, the less likely you are to vote.” (Shin) That’s one of the main reasons why there is more elders voting than 18 years old, because some don’t even have the time to vote or just don’t care, and that’s just how it would be with 16 and 17 year olds since they have to keep up with grades in high school, and would be enjoying their childhood with their friends. There is a major difference between teens in high school trying to vote and elders, and obviously elders are more mature since they are already paying bills, having a job, and forming families, meanwhile teens only job according to most parents is to just stay in school and have good

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Until the year of 1971, people were not allowed to vote until the age of twenty-one. People assumed that lowering the age would cause chaos, but regardless of the people’s opinion, on March 23, 1971, the legal age to vote was lowered to eighteen. ( Al Jazeera) Lowering the age before did not cause chaos, so why would lowering it again, to a respectful age group, be any worse? Voting laws have changed a lot since the early days.

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I am writing in response to the article, “Labor will look at dropping voting age to 16, says Bill Shorten” (The Sydney Morning Herald, 31/9/15). I firmly believe that the voting age in Australia should be reduced to 16 years of age. Today’s younger generation are taking on more and more responsibilities therefore making them more than eligible to have their say into who is going to run their country. In today’s society 16 year olds are capable of obtaining a job, earning their learners permit and paying taxes.

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The Voting Age: To Lower or Not to Lower? The issue of who gets to vote and who does not has always been a struggle in our country. When our country’s constitution was ratified, only white men were allowed to cast a vote in any election.

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INTRODUCTION In this article i will be sharing my own and other peoples views on whether the voting age should be lowered to 16 in the UK, and if 16 year olds are mature enough and ready to have the vote. There are many mixed views on this topic with some very strong opinions. I will be starting some arguments for and against the topic and explaining my views on them. I will then write a conclusion on my views after reading and commenting on the points given for the different arguments.

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Most 16 year old kids dont know much about or learn much about the presidental election to be able to vote. I feel the voting age 18 is a little risky itself and going lower is just unprofessional. Judges are comparing our country to diffrent countries like our rules and presidents are the same. My arguement is to keep the voting age at 18 years old.

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Every state set the age of suffrage that gives qualified person the right to vote. Country such as United States, Canada, and Great Britain, the minimum age limit is 18 years old. They are excluded from voting if they committed crimes, mentally incompetent and non-citizen residents such as guest workers. The most arguments regarding element of an electoral system is the rule for converting votes into seats.

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Abstract This argumentative essay tries to shade light on whether the voting age should be lowered to sixteen. The paper discusses the reasons for lowering the age of electoral majority of sixteen as well as the opposing views and counterarguments. It also considers numerous arguments that have been raised by both sides of the debate about lowering the voting age to sixteen. The claim that is being presented in this paper is about the political maturity of people aged sixteen years.

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Imagine your 16 year old self. Would you not want to be voting in elections and make the right decisions towards politics? States in America are already lowering the age when you can vote to 16. Turn out of US voters below 25 at presidential elections fell from 50% in 1972 to 38% in 2012. The Asia-Pacific Economics Blog notes the young demographic is some of the most engaged, and by extending it to a younger age could fuel their passion for many years.

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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.

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