The Right To Vote Summary

The voting age should be increased to 19 or 21 years of age. Most 18 year olds have just graduated or are still in highschool, so many of them are immature,and lack life experience. In addition, many 18 year olds do not have a plan(s) after high school, so if they can’t make a decision about their future what makes people think that they can make an informed decision about the future of the country. However, there are some states like Ohio that are allowing seventeen year olds to vote in primaries.

British dramatist Shakespeare once said that there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people’s eyes. Through the ages, controversies about voting age have not quieted down, and there are more and more different opinions about voting age like it should increase to 21, or it should decrease to 17 or 16, even 13. Like a coin has two sides, each opinion has both advantages and disadvantages. In my opinion, I prefer the voting age to be 18 in the United States. Teenagers who are 18 years old are independent enough to make their own decisions, and they should have the vote right as other adults do.

Proponents of a lowered voting age were quick to point out the irony that these young people were old enough to go to war but not old enough to elect the people drafting them. Congress proposed the 26th Amendment in response to immense pressure from angry, anti-war protesters. And, according to the National Constitution Center, the 26th Amendment was ratified in less than four months in what was and continues to be “the shortest ratification period of any constitutional amendment” (n.d.). Now, one would think that the record-breaking ratification of an expansion of voting rights would inspire young people to flock to the polls. Unfortunately, the opposite is true.

We should do whatever it takes to acheive that goal. We as a country should keep the voting age at 18 because lowering the age would only decrease our chances of increasing the votes we have in our country. That is why we need to keep the voting age at 18.

After reading both articles on the voting age, I believe the age should remain 18. I dont think changing the age will help with the voting turnout if anything it will hurt it.

If the voting age was lowered, this would help to fix that issue. As said earlier, 16-year-olds are much more likely to vote than 18-year-olds. Also, they are more likely to continue to vote later in life if they start earlier!

In Anny Shin’s article , “ Takoma Park 16-year-old savors his history making moment at the polls” she explains to us how this 16 year old boy enjoyed being able to do something a lot of young people can't and that is to vote. Takoma City is making a huge step by being the first place a person younger than 18 could vote. As evidence from ,“ Takoma Park 16-year-old savors his history making moment at the polls” , by Anny Shin when she writes, “Ben Miller plans to step into the booth and become at the Takoma Park Community Center and do something that the country’s other 16 year olds can’t: cast a vote in an election”.This is a good idea, because the U.S has low voter turnout rates and if we can lower the age of voters, then we might just see

In my position I agree to lower the age of voting to 16-17 years old because it can raise up the percentage of voting. Many people are not voting because they don't believe it can help them and their community also with the support from 16-17 years old, it can show a huge difference on how the votes are increasing little by little. Also it can gives them experience on what's the voting like. Once they get older, they will know what to do because they registered the vote in an

Annys Shins in the article “Takoma Park 16-year-old savors his history making moment at the polls” talks about a valuable privilege that was given to 350 teenagers between the ages of 16-17 of Takoma city the privilege cast their vote in the cities first effort to have teens become more politically involved.Takoma city is the first city in the nation to lower the voting age from 18 to 16 and they are excited to see the turn out. Ben Miller is one of the 350 teenagers who was giving the opportunity to vote and he states, “ He is excited of the opportunity. The turnout is so low, even a small amount can make a difference.” Although not everyone on Takoma city’s council supported the change many teens in Takoma are excited to be the first

In my opinion, I feel as though the voting age should stay at 18 and not be changed to 21. One of the reasons why the voting age should stay at 18 is because regardless of your age everyone's voice and opinion should be heard and everyone deserves an opportunity to be able to vote. Also if the voting age were to be increased to 21, the participation rate for voting would decrease significantly. Everybody says how important it is to vote so why should 18,19 and 20-year-olds not be included? If the voting age was raised, it would make things worse, and it wouldn't be right for them to not take part in voting for our political future. Many people may underestimate the younger age groups and may not see them as mature enough to take part in voting.

The 26th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1971, giving eight-teen year olds the right to vote. Forty four years later the voting age still remains set at eight-teen but is it time for a change?

Takoma Park City Council voted to lower the legal voting age to 16 for its residents and the majority voted in favor of it.The reason was to increase voter turnout in the polls and I think was a great way to do that. Shin quotes Rob Ritchie, director of the national reform organization FairVote and a Takoma Park resident, when she writes, “Eighteen-year-olds, it turns out, “are not a very good first voting age group,” Richie said, because many of them are in the midst of leaving their childhood homes.” This is very true because

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.

There have been many advantages and disadvantages to the change in the age requirement to vote. Currently the biggest disadvantage has been the voter participation percentage, followed by the demographic of the voters. With the age requirement being lowered to 16 the negatives may out weigh the postive.

Recently, people have called out for the U.S. legal voting age to be lowered. If this is to happen the voting age would go down two years, from 18-16 years old. While some say it would help increase the voter participation, others have good reasons to think the opposite.