Why we must lower the voting age to 17

[agent_loaf]

Lower the voting age
Sam Chapman


Senior citizens are voting at twice the rate of 18-24 year olds. The people who are going to pass away in near generations should not have more votes than anyone. This unfortunitly causes people like president Bush to take office for a full eight years. As A student who listens to opinions of fellow peers i find this situation terrorizing. Our current legal age of 18 is begging to be lowerd to 18 for these reasons.

The voting age limit currently allows anyone 18 and up to cast votes. However, if a 17-year-old can be jailed as an adult, taxed as adult, work as an adult, basicly seen in the eyes of the law as an adult, why cant they vote?
Measures are passed each year in this state alone that have a tremendous effect on the lives of its teenage residents, but they have no say in the decisons made. 17 would be the best age because around this time politics tend to shine brighter as teens are constently looking for a way to make their everyday lives better, wether it be fighting the school administration for your own personal opinons, or buying a new car. Around the same time many high schools are teaching citizenship to their students. Incorperating the importance of the intire political voting process in this type of class would create a positive impact on our future vote counts.

Giving the power to vote to 17 year olds would give them a chance to accualy vote in high school which would inturn make our chances of voting in the future much better. It seems when elections roll around the hot comodity is to talk about how low the young adult vote count is. Learning about the whole election process at a younger age will create smart voters. Establishing the habit of voting in 17 year-olds will give our country an broader sense of politics for the furture generations of voters to come. I can easily see how some people might not want to lower the voting age because 17 just isnt old enough in there opinion. Some might say maturity has not yet conquerd the world of all 17 year-olds. For these people, i have a solution.

Create a short genral test of knowledge to see if the voter can accualy define terms that are essential to know for the voting process. Questions could range from the definitions of Democrates and Republicans, to how many years are in one term of presidency. By passing this type f test, not only will a 17 year old voter be smarter than many voter much older then them, but it will have proven that 17 year olds are capible of deciding who they would like running the country they live in and call home.

[vyo476]

Do you honestly think that a majority of your peers can handle that kind of responsibility? Disregarding your ideas for this test (I'll get to that in a minute) we're not going to start litigating for a minority of "oppressed" teenagers. Unless you can prove that the majority and not the minority of them have the requisite level of maturity for voting than no one is going touch this, especially since 17-year-olds are only a year away from being allowed to vote anyway.

About this "test" of yours...general knowledge proves nothing. I'm something of a history nerd and have been for years; I could recite the names of every President of the United States when I was a freshman as well as spout off the major parties of the United States in every period of its development and define the political agendas of said parties. That being said, I was certainly not ready to be a voting citizen of the United States - I had all the background knowledge but none of the requisite maturity. You can't teach maturity; it is earned over time and experience.

All that being said, senior citizens have been around for a long time, have a lot of experience with how the world works and have watched it change, giving them a different, but no less valid view on how things ought to be run. There is absolutely no reason that their votes should be disregarded and there is no need to increase the voting demographics in the lower reaches simply to balance out the senior vote.

While age and wisdom are not always equated, how often are youth and wisdom?

[9sublime]

The voting age limit currently allows anyone 18 and up to cast votes. However, if a 17-year-old can be jailed as an adult, taxed as adult, work as an adult, basicly seen in the eyes of the law as an adult, why cant they vote?

I think this is the thing that needs to be addressed. If you pay the governments funding etc. why shouldn't you have a say in what happens in the country.

Either raise the taxing age or lower the voting age.

[USMC the Almighty]

I'm something of a history nerd and have been for years; I could recite the names of every President of the United States ...


The toughest part for me was always from Van Buren to Buchanan.

[Dave]

Honestly, I don't know many 20 year olds that have a mature view of politics, let alone 17 year olds. There are plenty of cases where 16 year olds are charged as adults in crimes, but that does not make them ready to have the responsibilities of adulthood.

As for the test you propose, I think that something like this would be good for the electoral system, but I have serious doubts about its constitutionality.

[vyo476]

The toughest part for me was always from Van Buren to Buchanan.

The late nineteenth century used to give me problems. Well, it still does, actually. But really, what the hell did Benjamin Harrison do while in office? That's memorable, anyway.

[USMC the Almighty]

The late nineteenth century used to give me problems. Well, it still does, actually. But really, what the hell did Benjamin Harrison do while in office? That's memorable, anyway.

Ohhh, the Gilded Age. A period defined by what I refer to as "mediocre" presidents. What did Harrison do? Just like all the other presidents between Johnson and McKinley (into TR) -- were there really to settle some disputes within their own parites, cater to everyone (why they largely avoided serious issues) but largely to sign all laws the Congress passed.

I think that after all the executive intensity of the Civil War and Reconstruction, Congress began to reassert its authority.

[PLC1]

Senior citizens are voting at twice the rate of 18-24 year olds.

18 to 24 year olds can vote now, so why add to the numbers of people who could vote, but choose not to?

[Everylyric]

18 to 24 year olds can vote now, so why add to the numbers of people who could vote, but choose not to?

Well said.

[Justinian]

Tell me friend, what the hell do you think 17 year olds comprehend regarding politics? Even when I was 17, I didn't know a Goddamn thing. Such a policy is definitely unwise.

[Kwaku]

Nice thread!

Personally, I think anyone who gets the right to vote should be made to take a test: at least point out where your country is on the map, who's currently running it and what's your capital. Having the vote should be a privilege, lord knows women and other groups have had to fight hard enough to get it.

[dahermit]

As A student who listens to opinions of fellow peers i find this situation terrorizing. I suspect that the majority of people who want the voting age lowered to 17 are those who are 17. Admittedly, there can be a problem with aging and rational voting but I hesitate to advocate for the right to vote for an age group that demonstrates its ability to be rational by causing the majority of white crosses to placed along side roadways. There are many good arguments to raise the age of majority from 18 to 21; where it originally was. Grow up, acquire experience, then vote. Until then, spend more time learning and observing rather than expressing an opinion.

[dahermit]

Originally Posted by agent_loaf

The voting age limit currently allows anyone 18 and up to cast votes. However, if a 17-year-old can be jailed as an adult, taxed as adult, work as an adult, basicly seen in the eyes of the law as an adult, why cant they vote?In many cases the same can be said for 14 year olds. Lets lover the voting age to 14 then. Slippery slope argument.

[Poolee]

I'm actually for raising the voting age. I also think there should be more requirements to be able to vote. I think you should have to take a test on more than just basic facts. A course in high school should be devoted to teaching you unbiased (not that you can get that in public schools) political history showing what the effects are of different political systems on a country. Theres a lot more but I don't want to get into it right now. This way you'll have informed voters instead of the people who just vote on gut instinct.

[USMC the Almighty]

So you want to bring back literacy tests?

[PLC1]

I say there should be a test. The potential voter should not only know how to read English, but should be able to read an editorial and either give reasons for agreeing with it, or be able to rebut it with logical arguments. The voters currently are too easily manipulated by advertising, which is nearly always misleading and paid for by special interest dollars.

[9sublime]

Dahermit, the difference is that a 14 year old isn't classed as an adult in many ways and rights, while a 17 year old is.

If they have to fulfil some of the responsibilties of an adult, give them the vote.

[USMC the Almighty]

It's one year. When does this even make a difference? And honestly, how many 17 year olds would actually vote anyway?

[9sublime]

How would you like it if you didn't get the vote in the next election, but had to die for your country under a government you wouldn't have voted in?

[USMC the Almighty]

I very well could be wrong, but I'm fairly certain no 17 year olds have died in the war.

[Bunz]

I think the voting age at 18 is just fine. While we can talk maturity of individuals, or even age groups. The age used to be 21 until the 24th amendment, which states: The rights of citizens who are eighteen years or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of age.

If we step back a bit into history, this comes from the fact that the voting age was generally 21 and the draft age was 18. Young men were being sent overseas to die in foreign wars without having a say in who thier leaders were. Now this makes sense to me.
But this notion about having to pass a test is utter BS, and someone else mentioned that voting is not a right but a priveledge, which is totally untrue. Unless you are a convicted felon and over the age of 18, it is you RIGHT to register to vote, it is also your right not to vote. If you dont vote, you shouldnt ***** about how things turn out.
Now back to the idea of passing a test, why not bring back the poll tax? Passing any type of test to vote is totally unAmerican and I think was addressed in the civil rights act.

[Bunz]

I very well could be wrong, but I'm fairly certain no 17 year olds have died in the war.

While I am not aware of any 17 year olds killed in the current wars going on, there have been 17 year olds and younger killed in every other major American conflict.

[dahermit]

Dahermit, the difference is that a 14 year old isn't classed as an adult in many ways and rights, while a 17 year old is.

If they have to fulfil some of the responsibilties of an adult, give them the vote.In some states 14 year olds can marry. Therefore, they, "...fulfil some of the responsibilties of an adult..."

[vyo476]

In some states 14 year olds can marry. Therefore, they, "...fulfil some of the responsibilties of an adult..."

Call me crazy but I'd say rethinking the law that lets 14 year olds get married would be a better idea than giving them a vote simply because it exists.

And just for curiosity's sake, that's Hawaii you're talking about, right?

[9sublime]

At 16 children in the UK can leave home, drive a motorbike, get taxed, get a full time job, smoke and get married.

However, they can't vote on anything to do with this despite the fact they are paying road tax, national insurance from their wage as well as income tax, tax on the ciagrettes, and have to deal with everything that gets thrown in you at life. If they want to change anything, they can't, because they can't vote.