The Pros And Cons Of The Voting Age

Have you ever wondered if the voting age could be lowered? Well there is a huge Controversy on it. Why? Because many young adults, or teenagers, live and have the same responsibility as an adult would .In many peoples opinion, it should be lowered .Many people think the same way, young voices matter.

That is why i feel our country should not lower the voting age at all. Most teenagers dont vote and have no intension on voting any time in the future. We should keep the voting to adults at the age of 18 and

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.

After reading both passages provided on the voting age debate of weither it should be lowered to 16 to remain at 18, I am amazed that there is even a debate to be had with the complete lack of legitamate arguments for lowering the voting age. It seems from the information provided that the overal goal is to raise the voter participation percentage and lowering the voting age provides no convicing evidence of being able to do so.

Allowing teens that are sixteen and seventeen vote is a good idea because many kids have a dream of their own. Ben miller, who is one of the first sixteen years olds to vote stated “it's a valuable privilege”, Which in all ways he's correct not many countries allow their younger generations to vote. After the “26 amendment gave 18-year-olds the right to vote” (shin) the rate of voter registration want up. The younger teenagers are considered more likely to vote than the elders. This showed a small difference in the outturn making it a better chance for whatever candidate to be chosen. Although, Miller did not have a driver's license yet he was still able to vote because of his “pre-register” which allowed him to vote “through the Motor vehicle administration”(shin). Even though his mother was a”writer and whose father does international relief and development work”(shin), he was

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.

Interest groups and lobbyists’ would make assumptions about the voting age. Is voting at eight-teen fair? What would happen if sixteen year olds could vote? Getting people to think about and analyze a problem leads them to get others to think about the same problem which makes the idea grow in popularity.

By lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 some people suggest improvement of voter turnout. On the other hand the problem is that by doing this there would be a decrease in the participation percentage. Most of the younger people would not take the time to vote; much less take the time to understand what they're voting for.

The younger generation are infamously known for having a low voter turnout for each election. Young adults have a loud voice when it comes to supporting their political stance but the majority of them don't vote so their efforts go to waste. We can see the statistics of voting habits from various age groups where the middle and old aged are exercising their civic duties far more than those who have just recieved this responsiblity. We do need to balance out the young and the old voters, but decreasing the minumum required age will not solve anything as 18 year olds hardly ever vote as is. We should not change the minimum voting age from 18 as it won't increase the demand for citizens to vote, instead we should focus on incentives to make it so people will want participate in the voting process.

Imagine, a world where the young people had a voice in American politics! Probably, a scary thought to some adults. However, what if young people did have a voice, in American politics. In this case, the right to vote. The right to vote has been in an issue, in our culture for years. From people being the opposite sex, to people of a different skin tone. The right to vote has always been the issue, of who could vote. The voting age in America is 18, but the question is, should it be lowered to 15. I do agree the voting age should be lowered to 15. The right to vote is an important right, it would promote political participation and there are no wrong votes.

Suffrage has been a universal right in the works for well over centuries in America. At its inception, the United States of America only let landowning Caucasian men to vote, while excluding minorities and women. With copious amounts of protest, those groups eventually got their suffrage, and now voting is comfortably open to anyone eighteen or older. One would assume that with such open doors for voting, that the vast majority of people would line up at their voting booths and cast their ballots with glee. Much to the detriment of this assumption, voting percentages are painfully low and those that do vote tend to be either incredibly biased towards their political party or too old to see the effects of their votes come into play. Thus, by lowering the voting age to sixteen, there would be more diversity in the ballots, a larger voting turnout consistently, and little to no downside for doing so.

Giving suffrage to people 16 and older would have a net negative effect; the age of suffrage should stay at 18. Not only would it lower voter percentages, given that, as stated in paragraph 3 of "Keep the Voting Age at 18," "only 38% of voters in the 18 - 24 age group voted in 2012," and the younger the person, the less interest they have in politics, but it also would skew the results unfairly. The news media and even some teachers have a tendency to project their personal views, whether implicitly or not, left or right, onto their viewers and students, instead of reporting the facts and both sides of the argument and letting their viewers and students decide for themselves. I've seen examples of this in my schools, where teachers will give a student a failing grade for

The U.S. needs new fresh minds with everyone they can to vote for our laws. It is unfair for the people that are going to turn 18 while the president is serving without any say in the president that they may strongly disagree with. I believe that the national voting age in the U.S. should be lowered due to the facts that we are required to follow the laws that we have no say in, we have adult responsibilities without the same rights, and there will also be a higher-voting turnout.

The controversy over lowering the voting age is a difficult one. While lowering the voting age will increase the number of voters, it is not guaranteed to increase the percentage of participation. We must also consider the fact that younger voters tend not to vote. Another concern is the involvement of young adults ages 16-18 in politics. It is not common that these teens follow politics and think about who would be a good leader for their country. Lowering the voting age most likely will not help to improve voter turnout or participation or turnout. We need to work toward increasing the participation of the existing voters.

In the article “ Why We Should Lower the Voting Age to 16,” Laurence Steinberg asserts that teenagers deserve “ more than just a voice to make a change” but a right to vote (Steinberg). He elaborates on how teenagers are qualified to vote because their minds are fully developed enough to make good choices. Steinberg believes that teenagers have the responsibility to vote because currently the teens right now are having a “ thoughtful, eloquent protest.”