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Should 16-Year-Olds Vote?

The document discusses the debate over allowing teenagers, specifically those aged 16 and 17, to vote in elections in the U.S., highlighting some localities that already permit it. Proponents argue that young people should have a say in decisions affecting their lives, while opponents believe they lack the maturity and judgment needed for voting. Legislative efforts are underway in various states to lower the voting age, reflecting a growing acceptance of this idea in political circles.

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9 views2 pages

Should 16-Year-Olds Vote?

The document discusses the debate over allowing teenagers, specifically those aged 16 and 17, to vote in elections in the U.S., highlighting some localities that already permit it. Proponents argue that young people should have a say in decisions affecting their lives, while opponents believe they lack the maturity and judgment needed for voting. Legislative efforts are underway in various states to lower the voting age, reflecting a growing acceptance of this idea in political circles.

Uploaded by

tiffanydangx5
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Tiffany Dang

Michael Roloff

Pol-001

19 June 2024

Are Teenagers allowed to vote?

Around under-18s are not allowed to participate in state or national elections in the

United States, but a few small Maryland communities and Berkeley, California, allow

16-year-olds to vote in local elections. Critics argue that teens are too irresponsible, immature, or

uninformed to make crucial decisions about whether they would prefer the Democrat or the

Republican. However, no one vote matters very much, and lowering the voting age to 16 for state

elections would not change this. Lawmakers in Oregon and California have introduced bills to

lower the voting age to 16 for state elections, while U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley introduced an

amendment to do the same at the national level. Illinois may soon become the first state in the

U.S. to give 17-year-olds the right to vote in general elections. Civil rights activists are

campaigning to take the voting age even lower to 16 years old. Opponents of the idea say that

16- and 17-year-olds simply do not possess the judgment and experience needed to vote.

Wayne Rooney, a new Everton footballer, is set to sign a £100,000-a-week contract, paying 40%

of the money to the Treasury. However, he will have no say over how the money is spent and is

considered too young to choose which politicians should decide on issues that are likely to

concern him intimately. Young entrepreneurs on the Times Rich List have no say over economic

and industrial policy, and an estimated 30,000 young carers cannot influence the provision of

social and health services. Parents under 18 have no say over family policy and childcare
provision, and young victims of crime have no say on the criminal justice system. Lowering the

voting age to 16 is no longer a policy that dares not speak its name in Labour circles, and it

cannot be long before the Tories see this as a popular and proper policy to espouse.

- SHOULD MINORS GET TO VOTE? - Document - Gale In Context: Biography

([Link])

- Lower the voting age? - Document - Gale In Context: Biography ([Link])

- Sweet 16 and ready to vote? - Document - Gale In Context: Biography ([Link])

- 16 candles and a ballot?: Almost 40 years after the U.S. lowered the voting age to 18,

there's talk of letting 16- and 17-year-old go to the polls. - Document - Gale In Context:

Biography ([Link])

- Give Wayne Rooney the vote: allow 16-year-olds in the polling booths, and cut electoral

apathy - Document - Gale In Context: Biography ([Link])

- Young Voters Could Make a Difference. Will They? - Document - Gale In Context:

Biography ([Link])

- Vote early, vote often; Youth and democracy - Document - Gale In Context: Biography

([Link])

- In Newark, 16-Year-Olds Win the Right to Vote for School Boards. - Document - Gale In

Context: Biography ([Link])

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