Should the voting age be lowered to 16?
As the 2016 Presidential Election debate season comes to a close, many teens have been more involved than ever in their political views. Many leaders in today's government believe that the youth have a unique perspective and they’ll never have those experiences again. Another idea often thought of is that if we let uneducated adults vote, why not let smart youth vote. Overall, many leaders in today's government want to lower the voting age in order to allow for a substantially larger turnout in the polls as the youth becomes more and more interested and educated as they become more invested in the country's economy and well-being.
A common argument against lowering the voting age is that it isn’t a burden …show more content…
In the U.S., about half of the voting-age population turned out to vote for president in 2012. Elections for lesser offices have far lower rates. About 21 million 15- to 19-year-olds live in the U.S., according to the 2014 American Community Survey “Given the general malaise that we have in politics right now, anything that gets people excited is worth looking at,” said Scott Warren, founder of Generation Citizen, which promotes civics education and has been involved with lower-voting-age efforts. “This is not about anything except getting more young people to participate.” Teenagers have been able to vote in other countries for years. These countries including Brazil, Indonesia, Ecuador and Argentina. After allowing 16 and 17-year-olds vote in their independence referendum last year, Scotland gave them the right to vote in elections this summer. As more countries begin to embrace the ideas of young adults, the United States, which has always been a country to embrace new ideas and often push the boundaries evolving democratic societies. There should be no reason not to take the ideas of bright
As the 2016 Presidential Election debate season comes to a close, many teens have been more involved than ever in their political views. Many leaders in today's government believe that the youth have a unique perspective and they’ll never have those experiences again. Another idea often thought of is that if we let uneducated adults vote, why not let smart youth vote. Overall, many leaders in today's government want to lower the voting age in order to allow for a substantially larger turnout in the polls as the youth becomes more and more interested and educated as they become more invested in the country's economy and well-being.
A common argument against lowering the voting age is that it isn’t a burden …show more content…
In the U.S., about half of the voting-age population turned out to vote for president in 2012. Elections for lesser offices have far lower rates. About 21 million 15- to 19-year-olds live in the U.S., according to the 2014 American Community Survey “Given the general malaise that we have in politics right now, anything that gets people excited is worth looking at,” said Scott Warren, founder of Generation Citizen, which promotes civics education and has been involved with lower-voting-age efforts. “This is not about anything except getting more young people to participate.” Teenagers have been able to vote in other countries for years. These countries including Brazil, Indonesia, Ecuador and Argentina. After allowing 16 and 17-year-olds vote in their independence referendum last year, Scotland gave them the right to vote in elections this summer. As more countries begin to embrace the ideas of young adults, the United States, which has always been a country to embrace new ideas and often push the boundaries evolving democratic societies. There should be no reason not to take the ideas of bright