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I just looked it up, it could be 16 legally, but I agree, it's a dumb idea. They interviewed a 16 yo on local news last night. he said he doesn't think he's ready. Oregon legislature has come up with goofy ideas in the past.
They know that the majority of children will vote left. They will just promise free college and the kiddies will gobble up the propaganda and vote left.
They know that the majority of children will vote left. They will just promise free college and the kiddies will gobble up the propaganda and vote left.
I just looked it up, it could be 16 legally, but I agree, it's a dumb idea. They interviewed a 16 yo on local news last night. he said he doesn't think he's ready. Oregon legislature has come up with goofy ideas in the past.
Thats strange, most 16 yr olds I know, think of themselves as fully grown adults at that age, who know everything there is to know!!
"The 26th Amendment (passed and ratified in 1971)[65] prevents states from setting a voting age higher than 18.[66] Except for the express limitations provided for in Amendments XIV, XV, XIX and XXVI, voter qualifications for House and Senate elections are largely delegated to the States under Article I, Section 2 and Amendment XVII of the United States Constitution, which respectively state that "The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature." and "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures."[67]
16 states permit 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections and caucuses if they will be 18 by election day: Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico,[68] North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia, Vermont, and West Virginia. Iowa, Minnesota, and Nevada allow 17-year-olds to participate in all presidential caucuses, but may not vote in primary elections for other offices. Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Washington, and Wyoming allow 17-year-olds to participate in only Democratic caucuses, but not in the Republican caucus. [69]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_age
The same source also points out that the idea of lowering the voting age to 16 is not unusual.
I'm neutral on the idea. A reason to support it is that if kids are earning money and being taxed, they should have the right to vote on how those taxes are spent. A similar argument is made that kids who will be expected to fight wars should have some say in the foreign policy decisions that lead to those wars. The argument against is of course general immaturity and/or lack of sense. But that objection is not confined to a particular age group. I think we can all agree that there are both dumb voters and intelligent voters in all age groups. There is no magical age at which we can assume that most voters make their choices after deep and informed analysis.
Since the 18-22 age group usually under-votes by a significant percentage, I suspect the 16-18 are group would follow suit.
Originally Posted by Jimmyp25
They know that the majority of children will vote left. They will just promise free college and the kiddies will gobble up the propaganda and vote left.
You need to occasionally step outside of your right wing left hating echo chamber. Not everything negative in the world is a result of the left.
Most 16 year olds don't pay attention to politics so they really can't make an educated decision on who to vote for. It is questionable if 18 year olds are much different but they old enough to join the military so they should be allowed to vote.l
They can do it at the state level elections... The Democrats need more idiots as voters .... They always have....
Does someone being young automatically make them an idiot? It's a legit question.
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