Should 16 year olds have the right to vote?

Question

I going to a USA congressman's town hall tomorrow. If there is a majority of "yes" here, I will bring it up with him.

Answer 1

Yes!

Our system needs participation from bright, motivated, and interested people. Voting is a habit which, if begun at a young age, will continue into adulthood.

Young voters will gain experience quickly and become discerning citizens; I don't see any reason why 16 year olds shouldn't vote.

Answer 2

You wouldn't have a valid argument because at 16 you can't even join the military. You also can not marry without parental consent. This means that the courts have already decided that a 16 is not of a maturity level to make adequate life influencing choices.

Have fun at the town hall.

PS I'd still bring it up for fun though. lol

Answer 3

In my country, Nicaragua, the voting age was lowered to 16 during the 80s. The reason was to justify drafting 16 year-olds to war and making them fight. It is a similar reason, if I´m not mistaken, why the voting age was set at 18 in the US.
My answer... No. Voting is not just a right, like the right to be free; voting is usually coppled with responsibilities that are inherent to adults. At 16, most teens are far away from being able to carry out those responsibilities.

Answer 4

It is hard to imagine that the stupid TV portrayed 16 year old could make an intelligent decision when voting. But we have to remember that not all 16 are stupid, in fact most have a decent concept of the world we live in. Whether that is enough to allow their vote to be heard or not is hard to say because most people, age unimportant, decide to vote based on limited knowledge of what their "party" is offering. I would love to see the age lowered if more unbiased education was available for those willing to vote.

Answer 5

NO! NO! NO! and an even more resounding NO! there are several reasons why.
1. lack of maturity. The average 16 year old will vote based on their hormones and teenage selfish desires, not based on making the US better.
2. lack of responsibility. the average 16 year old cannot serve in the military, own property, sign contracts, or be legally considered an "adult". The property owners, military personel, business owners, and everyone who IS legally responsible will have to pay for the mistakes 16 year olds would make at the polls.
3. hollywood entertainers would run for office more often and get elected more often. who else here wants (name of rapper) as mayor of their town? it would be cool for about 15 minutes, then that rapper would ride around shooting people and stealing. who wants that nutjob tom cruise as governor of their state? who wants the scientology cult taught in their children's schools?

Perhaps if 16 year olds were able to take responsibility for their choices instead of blaming their parents/the media/society/God/the man/etc. things would be different. At present, NO!

Answer 6

I think that if a sixteen year old can prove themselves capable of voting, then yes. When I was sixteen, I knew more about the elections than most voters.

Answer 7

Are you kidding me , most don't even know who the President is or where Ok . is , much less drive correctly and you want them to pick our next Government
Most people voting now , can't even do that right .

Answer 8

No but I do think that 18 year olds should be allowed to drink.

Answer 9

No. And neither should the ignorant. The stupid should be allowed to vote because they can't help it. However ignorance, in the US, is largely self imposed.

Answer 10

No. Still minors and still believing what their parents believe.

Ask him why we can't lower the drinking age to 19.