...SHOULD THE VOTING AGE BE LOWERED IN THE US? Running head: SHOULD THE VOTING AGE BE LOWERED IN THE US? Should The Voting Age Be Lowered in the US? Name Institution Should The Voting Age Be Lowered In The US? Voting age refers to the minimum age requirement for one to participate in a given general election. According to the American Constitution, the minimum voting age is set to be at the age of eighteen years old (Schmidt et al., 2014). However, there have been several debates aimed at lowering this age to sixteen years old with many American citizens arguing that sixteen years is the stage where people gain much freedom. However, on the contrary, the big question remains unanswered, “Is a sixteen-year-old mature enough to understand the dynamics of politics and democracy?” Lawrence (2014) eludes that lowering the voting age from eighteen years to sixteen will translate to a higher turn out during the voting period. Pragmatically, most young people are vibrant with new ideas, and they are always on the lookout for any leaders that will bring about change unlike the old. He further adds that at this age, the teens are much focused on developments and bettering their future. Also, going by this argument is George, who concludes that lowering the voting age will result in having more leaders who are accountable for their actions (2015). Sometimes people forget that age does not necessarily...
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...Voting Age Matthew Clayton states in an article that “...Having the right to vote is widely recognized as one of the most important legal rights within a democracy.” (Wing and Clayton 534) With suffrage being an imperative democratic right, the questions of whether there should be a minimum voting age and if so, what age that should be set have quickly become central political issues. In 1971, the United States ratified the 26th Amendment to the Constitution, eliminating the age standard of twenty-one and granting eighteen year olds the right to vote. This was due to the realization of the double standard that eighteen year olds were old enough to be sent to fight for their country, but not old enough to vote for the people who represented it. A similar situation is occurring today, as American citizens under the age of eighteen pay taxes, drive cars, abide by the laws, are affected by the decisions of politicians, etc., but are denied the right to vote. These citizens are perfectly capable of making informed decisions and fulfilling the duties of a registered voter. Being affected by political decisions just as much as someone over the age of eighteen, citizens as young as the age of sixteen should be granted the right to vote. (Wing and Clayton 536) At the youthful age of sixteen, one can accomplish much more than they could at a prior time in their life. In most states, a sixteen year old can become emancipated from their parents, obtain a work permit, hold a job, choose...
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...Lowering the Voting Age This election year was very intense, many kids in my generation was interested in politics and was eager to vote. The excitement and anticipation of finding out the next president was one of those on the edge of the chair, biting your finger nail moments. I guess what I’m trying to say is that the voting age should be lowered. The voting age should be lowed to at least the age 16 or older. If you let a 16 year old teenager behind the wheel of the car then we should definitely be able to vote! Just like any other American, us young Americans would like for our voice to be heard too. "No right is more precious in a free country than that of having a choice in the election of those who make the laws under which ...we must live. Other rights, even the most basic, are illusory if the right to vote is undermined.” - Wesberry v. Saunders. So In this paper, I’ll answer the question WHY? Why should the voting age be lower? There are many pros and cons to this argument. Okay, adults consider us to young “responsible” adults. What they consider us to be and what they say we our which are “irresponsible kids” are totally different. There is research that shows that “young “responsible” adults” or “irresponsible kids” can make reasoned decisions, our voting age remains two years above most age restrictions. Sixteen year olds are mature enough to make important decisions such as voting. Our bodies are fully develop to be an adult, we have been educated for at least...
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...Enter the Age of Internet Voting Voting has changed drastically since the beginning of humanity. Some of these changes have been for the better, and others have been fraudulent. The first form of voting originated in Ancient Athens where Greeks would use small balls to vote. A white ball would be cast in favor of a candidate or a topic and a black ball would be cast to vote against someone or something. This is where the term black balled came from (Glenco). Then a couple thousand or so years later came paper ballots, lever machines, punch cards, optical scans, and touch screens. The three most well known ways of voting are by optical scanners, punch cards, and touch screens. In which touch-screens are the most dominant in America Today. There have been major incidents with all of these machines that have caused doubt about whether the results are truly accurate or a miscalculation. The best way to solve this problem is to no longer use any by optical scanners, punch cards, or touch screens and make voting possible online. Internet voting seems like the most logical answer to the current problems faced by these machines and punch cards. It is also possible to have internet voting while ensuring that the votes are accurate. New voting technologies tend to emerge out of crises of confidence as seen prominently in the 2000 presidential election. We only rarely change systems and in response to a public anxiety that electoral results can no longer be trusted. There have...
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...chronologically challenged decision makers”(Bryne). Voting age and privileges have changed many times in the past and now is the time to change it again. Putting a cap would help let younger people decide their own future. Younger adults deserve to have a say on what they want because not everyone else takes into consideration to younger kids. Voting age should be changed to a younger age such as 16 and/or have an age limit of around 87 in the United States. Even though voting age has changed in the past, we have not really taken a look into putting a cap of around 87, also young adults are very much part of the community and they deserve a say. Voting age/privilege has changed a lot in...
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...Lowering the voting age is… One reason the voting age should be lowered is it would increase voter turnout. Aside from more ballots being cast, lowering the voting age would teach Americans at a young age on how to vote and why it is important which will increase voter turnout immediately and in the long run. Many other countries have lowered the voting age and it has proven to increase voter turnout. Lowering the voting age would also increase voter turnout among parents. Families will be engaged in conversation and parents will be urged to vote due to the enthusiasm of their children. Another reason the voting age should be lowered to sixteen is how stationary teenagers are. At age eighteen, most young adults leave the home and community...
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...Megan Mahan Mrs. Keeth English II 1 November, 2017 Title The voting age in the United States should be lowered from eighteen to sixteen years of age. Lowering the voting age can increase the turnout of citizens who participate in electing officials. Once a teenager turns eighteen, they usually do not vote because they are off to college. Chris Lee states that eighteen year-olds do not have the time to vote because they are too busy in college, so they are less likely to vote when they get older (par. 7). If a teen does not vote until eighteen, though, it lowers the rate of voting because they are most likely not to vote ever or consistently. In the article “Lowering Voting Age could Increase Turnout” states “Many college-age students don’t pick up that habit because they live far from where they might be eligible to vote” (par. 8). Therefore, lowering the voting age can help get more people voting the older they get....
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...Voting Age, Should it be Lowered? Or Raised? As of right now, the legal age to be able to vote is 18, in the United States, many questions are going around if the legal voting age should be lowered since kids been arguably more politically active then they’ve been before. The voting should stay as 18 for countless of reasons, when a person turns 18 they’re no longer considered a kid, they’re considered an adult and they’re things they’re allowed to do that makes them feel more of an adult, voting being one of them. Voting is a great privilege a person earns when they are of age, and lowering the legal age of voting would make everything less interesting or exciting when people turn 18. Turning 18 is a breakaway from being a kid to becoming an adult and the privileges that come with being an adult should be given to them at 18. Lowering the voting age would take away that privilege that comes with becoming an adult and it would take away the excitement. Another reason why we shouldn’t lower the voting age is that not every 16 year old is into politics, yes they’re...
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...“A teenage brain is not just an adult brain with fewer miles on it (Jensen 1).” According to Neurologist Frances E. Jensen, teens are not mentally developed, thus it can make them incapable of making crucial decisions. When it comes to voting, teens cannot always be trusted with America’s fate. Since many teens are not interested in the world of politics, they are improbable to be concern of what is happening. At the age of 16 and 17, teens are not able to make crucial decisions yet, therefore, how are they going to be able to make the right decision for the nation? Despite the reasons for lowering the voting age to 16, lowering the voting age to 16 is a catastrophic mistake because teenagers are easily swayed, are immature, and are irresponsible. The fact of the matter is that teens are easily swayed, which makes lowering the voting age to 16 unacceptable. “This leaves teens easily influenced by their environment and more prone to impulsive behavior, even without the impact of souped-up hormones and any genetic or family predisposition (Ruder 1).” According to Harvard Magazine, teens are likely to be swayed by influences such as school, friends,...
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...Voting Age In 1870 the fifteenth amendment was passed granting suffrage to men of color. Fifty years later the nineteenth amendment was passed granting suffrage to women, and another fifty years after that the twenty sixth amendment gave eighteen year olds right to vote. All of these amendments were steps toward ending discriminating, but the United States has one last step. If the America is going to truly provide equal representation for all people then it ought to grant suffrage to those of age 16 and up. Before proposing that the voting age should be lowered it is necessary to examine the arguments of those opposed. Those opposed to lowering the voting age make three main arguments. The first being that teens under the age of 18 lack the maturity and brain development to make an informed decisions for themselves. The second argument contends that voter turnout among young people is already dismal and lowering the voting age would have negligible effects. The last argument claims that there is no valid reason...
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...As well as social class, age is a long term factor which can influence voting behaviour. Analysis of data from 1945-1970, suggested that older voters were more likely to vote Conservatives than those younger and less likely than younger voters to vote Labour. This could be explained through the notion that as an individual gets older they become more concerned about their financial and personal security and believe Conservative governments are more likely to protect their interests than one of Labour. However, psephologists like Butler and Stokes explained that the relationship between age and voting is linked to the different processes of political socialisation and the notion of political generations. (Butler and Stokes, 1969) If an individual forms an allegiance with a particular party as an adult and continues to vote for that party throughout their life then they may be politically influenced by the prevailing climate...
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...There has been a recent argument made concerning whether the voting age is sufficient and whether or not it should be lowered to the age of sixteen. Many people believe that the voting age should be unaltered due because of maturity levels and not meeting the educational standards. However, I propose that the voting age should indeed be lowered. One factor affecting my judgment is the fact that many sixteen and seventeen year olds already act similarly to adults, looking at the fact that they pay taxes and drive. Another reason includes the fact that at age sixteen, teenagers are in their prime education period. Furthermore, voting is a way to hook the younger viewers and use their education to get them involved in current events. Because of...
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...n the Persuasive Argument, 16: The Right Voting Agethe¨, the National Youth Rights Association argues the author states. As the author puts it, “Youths become physically mature at an earlier age” (451). In other words, the authors believe young people have become the right to vote. Youth need the right to vote. Youths have political knowledge. As the authors puts it I disagree with the youths to have the right to vote because they are very young and they really don't understand about voting to much. The author states, “Today’s adults are deciding how young people’s Social Security money should be saved” (450). Basically, the author is saying that all the youths are having the rights to vote in a young age. The authors theory of agreeing with...
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...Voting rights have been a topic of discussion all on its own throughout the history of the United States. From the 15th, 19th Amendment, to the 26th Amendment, the limitations of suffrage has been altered on numerous occasions to meet the demands of the time. Based on this, many argue that the voting age should be lowered from 18 to 17 years of age. There is a plethora of pros to the idea of lowering the voting age to 17. For starters, “once you vote, you are more likely to vote again.” Voting early can be beneficial to the positive habitual action of voting itself. It’s been found that a 16 year old’s political knowledge is on par with that of a 21 year old’s. From this, one can deduce that the potential for high schoolers to “improve...
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...about it, wouldn’t it be interesting if teenagers were allowed to vote at 16! States determine at what age their voters can vote at. Lowering the voting age to 16 from 18 can be very beneficial in different ways. They can be the voice of their parents, if they are unable to vote. Peer pressure is already common in high school, if all the popular students are registering to vote, other student will want to vote. If teenagers start voting as soon as they can, it will turn into a habit that will continue for future elections. Students at this age are already learning about the government, so why not make help make a difference in their local or federal government when they turn 16 years old. What about teenagers who are not from politically active families, since ‘others predicted that the 16- and 17 year-olds most likely to vote from politically active homes,” (Shin) will definitely participate in voting during the elections? Undocumented parents don’t have much of voice when it comes to voting, by lowering the voting age limit, their children will get a...
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