Why we want to lower the voting age

WAYVRS's main focus is on lowering the voting age to sixteen in Washington State. Towards this end we have prompted a bill to be introduced into the Washington State House of Representatives. This bill will not be voted on during the 2005 year but will remain in committee until next year. From there it will have the chance to make it to a general vote in November of 2006.

The voting age has always been a fluid line; From it's origins of only allowing white, landowning males to vote to the current policy of allowing all citizens age eighteen or over to vote. Lowering the voting age to sixteen is the next natural step and it can only do good to get more people involved in our government. By allowing people to vote at an earlier age we give them the opportunity to develop voting as a habit in a place they are familiar with. The current policy is perhaps the worst possible time, as it's at the age of eighteen that most teens are leaving home for college or work. During such a massive transition it is easy to see how voting can be one of many things that gets lost in the shuffle.

Throughout recent years voter turnout has been dropping drastically, and remains at it's lowest in the 18 - 24 year old age group. This prompts fears that voter turnout for sixteen and seventeen year olds would be equally apathetic. Yet places that have lowered their voting age have shown the reverse to be true. In Handover, Germany the voting age was lowered to sixteen for local elections. The result of this action was that 56.6% of 16 - 17 year olds came out to vote, compared to 49% of 18-24 year olds. In addition a one-time mix up in the date of the general election allowed sixteen and seventeen year olds in Baltimore, Maryland to vote in the primary election. The result of this was that 35% of registered voters under the age of 18 came to vote, as opposed to the 36% of all registered adults. These and other examples clearly show that, if given the chance, Youth will vote.

Not only will Youth vote, but they have the justification to do so. In a 2001 study conducted by Interep, an advertising company, Teenagers under the age of eighteen spent over $9.7 billion dollars in sales tax alone, which is more taxes then were paid by the states North Dakota, Wyoming, Vermont, and Montana COMBINED. Despite paying so much in taxes Youth have no say in how their money is spent. This is blatant Taxation Without Representation, a concept our country was founded against. In addition Youth pay taxes on any money they make, in the form of Social Security, Medicare, and Income taxes. This money goes to vital institutions that are currently being reformed "for the Youth" yet without any say by the Youth.

Not only are the Youth of today subject to Taxation Without Representation but they are subject to a legal system that handles them with an arbitrarily imposed double standard. Teenagers under the age of eighteen do not have the same voice in the legal system as adults do, yet they can be tried as an adult in a court of law. The Supreme Court decreed that all people have the right to a trial by their peers, and yet again Youth are denied an equal standing under the law as nobody under the age of 18 can serve on a jury. What kind of twisted message do we send when we tell Youth they are judged mature, responsible adults when they commit murder, but silly, brainless kids when they want to vote? This is a double standard, no different than during the Vietnam War, and war isn't a dead issue now either. Leaders whom youth can't vote for today may send them to war tomorrow.

A lack of education is a widely used argument to deny the Youth the right to vote. Yet The Voter Rights Act of the 1960's states that "any person who has not been adjudged an incompetent and who has completed the sixth grade in a public school in, or a private school accredited by, any State or territory, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico where instruction is carried on predominantly in the English language, possesses sufficient literacy, comprehension, and intelligence to vote in any election". Why then, if the law states that only a 6th grade education is required to vote, do people still say that the Youth aren't smart enough. At the age of sixteen teens are required to attend school, during which time they are enrolled in US History and Social Studies classes. These classes provide teens with an understanding of how our political process works as well as current events and the history behind them. Teens receive all of this information from an unbiased source as opposed to most Americans who get their information from swayed media sources. The right to vote isn't denied on the basis of education for any adult, why should it be any different for Youth?

Lowering the voting age has no negative side effects. There is no such thing as a wrong vote or an incorrect opinion. By lowering the voting age we would empower a group of people that has a strong, vested interest in seeing our county and our world become a better place that is more responsive to the needs of all of its citizens. The Youth are the future of America and it's about time we bring America to the future.