Lowering The Voting Age Essay

The current minimum age for voting, 18 years old, isn't a very good time to start allowing people to vote. When people turn 18, they have plenty of things to worry about. They're (hopefully) moving out of their childhood homes, and they're (probably) going into college. How does that affect their abilities to vote? Well, people are less likely to vote when their lives are disrupted. Eighteen-year-olds have a lot of things

In the article “Takoma Park 16-year-old savors his history-making moment at the polls,” author Annys Shin explains how the Takoma City Council made the Montgomery County community the nation's first to lower the voting age from 18 to 16. Ms. Shin explains how Councilmember Tim Male asked, “How do we get more people vote” proposing that in a report seen from Denmark it suggest that younger teenagers are more likely to vote rather than their older peers. The director of the national reform organization Rob Richie stated, “ Eighteen year-olds, it turns out, are not a very good first voting age group.” They believe that by expanding the franchise to 16 and 17 year-olds it will get them into the habit of voting for the rest of their lives. However I do not believe that lowering the voting age will make a difference in the voter outcome.

America has been built on the idea that as citizens, we have the choice to decide what is the best for our country. Millions of Americans cast their vote every election day to make sure their voices are heard on who is going to run their country and what new policies they will bring with them. As stated in Anny Shin’s article, “Takoma Park 16-year-old savors his history-making moment at the polls,” voting is a, “valuable privilege,” in which many don’t realize. In the United States, not every is allowed to vote, only 18-year old citizens are allowed to vote. However the number of 18-year olds voting is very low and this has been an issue in the political for quite a while. The concerns and desires of most millennials are not being expressed as many are not voting. Many, like the city of Takoma have proposed to allow 16 and 17-year olds to vote as they believe that voting among millennials will increase.

In the article, “Takoma Park 16-year-old savors his history-making moment at the polls,” by Annys Shin, many teens who are 16-17 years old can now vote during the election. The decision was made by the Takoma City Council that in Montgomery County Community, they are the first ones in the nation to lower their voting age from 18-16 years old. A group of 350 students from Montgomery Blair High School were granted the right to vote in elections and one of the student who got the right to vote, Ben Miller had said, “ It’s a valuable Privilege,” and he means that it is a great advantage that many 16-17 years old can now vote. Many young adults who are the age of 18 are most likely not a good age to vote because many of them are planning to leave their childhood homes. And they can lack of discipline and causes them not to vote.

From “when in the course of human events teenagers should have the right to vote at the age 16 and above. In order for you to vote, you have to take a political test so that you display your preference and knowledge about the political world , and you have your chance to choose who you want.

America’s voting age requirement is 18. As a result, teenagers often feel disenfranchised by the political system, turning away from political involvement and civic engagement. Unable to participate in the political system, shut out from the democratic process, teenagers today are just opting out, neglecting current events until they’re older and can “actually make a difference,”

When people turn 18 that is when they are able to vote. Voting is a big responsibility that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Being able to vote means that you get to put your opinion out there and be able to maybe change the future by doing so. When i was doing my research I found that a lot of people such as “Voices For Children.”

We tend to vote for the politician that represents us. So did these new voters. The lowering of voting age made politicians consider about the youth population more, and the more consideration from politicians, the better problems could be solved. When these new voters received their naturally deserved rights,

The main point according Martin P. Wattenberg in Is Voting For Young People is that young people today do not vote during elections as much compared to other voting groups. Young people today are politically unengaged. “These state patterns of voting participation can be confirmed on the national level by the Census Bureau’s 2010 survey data. Among U.S. citizens under the age of 30 in 2010, only 24 percent reported that they voted.” (Page-188, IVYP) The low attendance of young people voting in Presidential elections indicates that young people do not care enough about politics to participate.

Imagine a time where teenagers are allowed to vote on important positions or issues that could possibly define our nation’s future. The average teenager may seem responsible, but would they be able to handle the responsibility of deciding our nation’s fate in the world as well as their own. In the article, “ Takoma Park 16-year-old savors his history making moment at the polls,” Annys Shin, who writes in depth about the historical event as well as shares valued opinions of those who participated in the making of this event, exclaims that the, “ Montgomery County community [was] the nation’s first to lower the voting age from 18 to 16.” This seems to be a test to determine if the nation should lower the voting age completely. However, this test shows varying results, but majority seem to shed some light on the fact that teenagers simply should not take part in voting. The average teenagers seem too young to be mature about issues, are uninterested in what major decisions are made by the government, and are simply being used by their parentals for an extra person support their own beliefs.

For some odd reason, many young people choose not to vote in elections with the excuse being that 'their one vote will not make a difference.' The problem with this excuse is that though there is truth behind it, it can become alarming when the majority think that way.

Other countries have their voting age set at 16, and many of them are the highest ranking in political participation. Those countries have incresed participation since lowering the age. They have already proven that it would be benficial for us.

Younger people ages 18 – 24 have been less likely to vote in the past due to lack of interest, money, or time to go. Also, they just had a lack of information so they just didn’t care to have

That’s why these young people do not prioritize politics that much in their life. Apart from this, in some states, it is requiring having government-issued ID to vote. Since many youngsters do not have any government-issued ID such as driving licenses or passport, and it is quite difficult to get these things done in the time of elections, hence they end up not exercising their democratic

It is easier to carry out voter education and registration through high schools - and attending high school is the last time these young potential voters would all be in one place. It becomes a lot harder to register first-time voters and expose them to the process of what is involved when they aren't affiliated with some kind of an institution.