DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Washington, D.C., may let 16-year-olds vote for president. Is that a good idea?

Washington, D.C., may let 16-year-olds vote for president. Is that a good idea?

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/electio...esident-n866481

WASHINGTON — High school students marched to protest for gun control after the Parkland shooting in Florida and soon they might be marching straight to the voting booth in the nation's capital.

Washington is on track to become the first place in the country to allow people as young as 16 to vote in federal elections, including for president, as the nation glimpses the emerging political power of the generation that follows millennials.

It’s part of a burgeoning movement in the U.S. and abroad as a growing number of cities and states consider ways to expand voting rights to younger people.

"At the age of 16, our society already gives young people greater legal responsibility. They can drive a car. They can work. Some are raising a family or helping their family make ends meet. They pay taxes," said D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen, a Democrat who introduced the bill last week to lower the voting age. "And yet, they can't exercise their voice where it matters most — at the ballot box."

A majority of the D.C. Council, as well as Mayor Muriel Bowser, have already signed onto the bill. The Washington Post has editorialized for passage, arguing that the promotion of civic engagement outweighs concerns about life experience or precedent.

It's a dramatic turnaround from just three years ago, when Allen introduced a similar bill that went nowhere.

He credits the change in part to the eloquence and passion that teenage activists demonstrated in the post-Parkland "March for Our Lives" and nationwide school walkouts to protest gun violence.

"Two years ago, the argument that I would hear people make was, really? Have you met a 16 year old?” Allen told NBC News. "What we've seen over the last several months has just completely eviscerated that argument."

Takoma Park, Maryland, just over the border from Washington, became the first jurisdiction in the country to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in 2013. Since then, a handful of other progressive cities have followed, the largest being Berkeley, California.

But cities only have the power to extend voting rights for municipal elections.

The District of Columbia — both a city and pseudo-state wrapped up into one — could enfranchise 16- and-17-year-olds for all elections, from selecting members of advisory neighborhood councils to the next occupant of the White House.

The downside of the District's status, however, is that Congress has the power to block laws in the Democratic stronghold, and the GOP majority on Capitol Hill has asserted that privilege with gusto, snubbing everything from assisted suicide to legalized marijuana.

Since Parkland, at least two other states, Minnesota and Georgia, have considered bills to expand voting rights to young people, while a half dozen states saw similar legislation introduced within the past year.

None have succeeded, but not because of legal hurdles.

The 26th Amendment, passed in response to youth unrest during the Vietnam War, gave the vote to every 18-year-old. But it does nothing to prevent states from lowering their voting age even further, experts say.

Not much data exists on the political views of the post-millennial generation, which is made up of those born after 1996 and is sometimes called Generation Z or iGen. But if they vote like their slightly older peers, who lean overwhelmingly liberal, the change could be a boon for Democrats.

Recognizing that potential, a coalition of progressive groups recently launched a major push to register high school students to vote in 10 key battleground states in this year's midterms.

"America's children took to the streets and led marches with a unified message that rang out across the country: We need a Congress that will protect us," said former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, whose gun safety group is involved in the effort. "We are making sure that they have the opportunity to cast their ballots for the first time and truly make a difference."

A number of states already allow young people to pre-register to vote or participate in primary elections if they will be 18 by the time of the general election.

But advocates say the main reason to expand the vote is nonpartisan.

Voting is a habit, and there's research to suggest that 16- and 17-year-olds are more likely to develop that habit than 18-year-olds, who are often moving away from their local community to attend college or start work.

Canada's top election official made a similar case in calling on Parliament to consider lowering the voting age last month, noting, "We know that Canadians who vote early in their lifetime will continue to vote, and those who don't vote in the first few elections will tend not to vote later on."

Austria, Brazil, and parts of the United Kingdom, among others, have also allowed 16-year-olds to vote in some elections.

Critics abound, however. When Allen appeared on a local call-in radio show Monday to promote his bill, he faced plenty of callers who found the idea of 16-year-old voters absurd.

One caller said teenagers should only be able to vote if they can pass a civics test. Another worried about a slippery slope that would lead to 14-year-olds selecting lawmakers.

Fred Schultz, the only member of the Takoma Park City Council to vote against the voting age change, said his mind has not changed, even though he was impressed by the students behind March for Our Lives.

"The vast, vast majority of 16- and 17-year-olds simply lack common sense," Schultz said.

i dunno if it's a good idea.

but i also dunno if letting 16 year olds drive is a good idea either.

the problem is that once again, we don't have a national standard on age requirements for certain situations.

DC is also a unique situation because technically, they have zero representation in government due to the fact that they aren't even a state.

It's a terrible idea. I don't think you can say that someone is old enough to serve their country and then tell them they should have no say in the political process. So I understand 18 being the voting age. But 16 is just dumb.

I am all for it!

The Republicans never win in DC but now they can hand out bicycles and video games to assure the vote!

Yes, as polls show, the 16 year olds of America love racist elderly creeps who used to scream at the girl from the "Twilight" movies about her ex-boyfriend.

I'm pretty sure Trump polls consistently in the teens among people 18 and under.

Lower voting age and raise gun buying age....bizzaro world...and I just did my 16 year olds taxes....she had $0 in federal income tax liability (same for state and county)....which was the same scenario I experienced when I was 16.....what is held out of your check is not your tax liability....it is just a convince mechanism

Dumb.



I don't think 18 year olds should be able to vote.


You aren't grown-up until you are 30 or so.



How about you can't vote until you have paid $35,000 in taxes in your lifetime? That sounds good to me.



Most people can meet that in their early 20's. Once you have paid the tax, you aren't as interested in seeing the taxes come out of other people pockets.

if 18 year olds aren't old enough to vote, then they aren't old enough to join the military.

or old enough to get a job.

personally I think 21 for military service aint bad idea....half the reason they want 18 years olds is that at 18 you will buy into the BS propaganda they feed you...

There are age limits to a lot of things.



I also said you could vote once you paid some taxes.


I couldn't vote at 18 but could do the others.



You can't legally drink until you are 21. Maybe we should allow 14 year olds to run for President.

And PDF continues his fight against all things Racial.

or that like athletes, its better and easier to train soldiers while they are young and in their primes.

maybe, but your age limits make no sense.

I am not really setting age limits. If a person is a total schlub and has never paid taxes, maybe they don't ever get to vote.


To me, you have to have skin in the game to get in the game.


How many poker games are you going to join where the person across from you is playing with Monopoly money and you are playing with real money?

this isn't monopoly or poker. please stop.

No, it isn't. It was an analogy.


Early on you said you didn't know if this was a good idea.



Of course it isn't. I know you are way younger than me by maybe 35-40 years, but you are old enough to know that 16 year old's don't know squat. They can't, they have only been literate for maybe 10 years at best.


I am old enough to know that 18 year old's aren't far removed from 16 years old's.

the problem is that the argument against it doesn't make any sense, especially when compared to other situations.

we're not old enough to vote at 16....but old enough to operate a vehicle? old enough to get a job at 16, but not old enough to vote until 18?

old enough to smoke cigs that causes cancer....but can't drink until 21?

if 16 year olds aren't grown enough to vote, then they aren't grown enough to get a job or drive either.

16 year olds in my state get a probationary license that does not become a standard drivers license untill age 18. They are subject to graduated passenger restrictions and times which they can drive without written approval...Also 16 year olds can only get certain types of jobs and even at that they are largely restricted by hours and such and are prevented from operating most types of machinery. Dont try and make the life of a 16 yr old kid seem as if they are adulting

Yea, the training requires you to buy into the emotional propaganda that they feed you...somebody 21 years old or slightly older is likely to call you out on the swill they are being fed...at 17 years old I was already to do my time in the Navy....The Gulf War was on..."patriotism" was rampant (although not sure now why Kuwait was our problem)..I was gung ho and ready...but at 18 i started to back off and choose college...at 24 I was asking my self what was I think...now I would not even let my kids consider being part of the MIC...just like religion people want a young mushy mind that is easily indoctrinated

you can spin the issue all you want, at the end of the day, the country trust a 16 year old to operate a vehicle.

a 16 year old can get a license. they can also get a job.

emotional propaganda?

lets not pretend that is somehow exclusive to the military, as there is propaganda right there in our school books in grade school.

americans are exposed to propaganda from birth.

Honestly, there's too much padding in the US school system. 16 year olds should be graduating and getting ready for college.

Or a trade.

A huge majority of kids that start college at 18 end up changing majors or areas of study 2 to 3 times because they honestly my have no clue what they want (which is not their fault or a bad thing) and ends up wasting time and money and you think that pushing high school to be cut down and 16 yr olds start off to college (or trade) is gonna change that scenario???? IMO it just adds 2 more years to the bill

To add to that, colleges and Universities, at their core, don't give a hoot other than "how do we get more students? We've got a new rec center planned/being built/just built."

True, although that's capitalism in a nutshell.

Oh the irony of capitalism being the model of college education that the typical left leaning professor preaches against.....

My first solution is to quit introducing majors as career choices one will be stuck with for the rest of their life. Also, possibly, stressing that you need to fall in love with a career or you will hate your life is not amazing advice. Kids in college aren't trying to find a career, they're trying to find happiness.

I don’t care how much one says they love their career....after a multitude of years the luster of any profession wears off and it ain’t what it use to be.

Speak for yourself. My mileage varies from yours... and I'm ass-deep in my 30th year with this bunch. It's the 36th year since my first paid days.

10 days ago, I just played the world premiere of an opera based on the last 36 hours of the life of MLK.

I'm performing a world premiere of a new work for solo trumpet and symph orch this weekend.

Last Saturday, I played a pops concert that torched the hall to ash. It was the music of David Bowie.

My bunch is playing 2 pieces by the great Duke Ellington this weekend... in a massive collaborative effort with the local pro Big Band, a sensational young pianiste on the rise, and our local media who will simulcast the performance on the net, while also beaming large screen visual content to the audience.

The luster never wears off the profession. The luster wears off the performer, the minute they cease to care. That's the same moment they cease being artists.

I'm surrounded every day by people who still look forward to tomorrow's possibilities. It's why we sound the way we do. It's why we work the way we do. It's why we prepare the way we do. It's why no one else in the region can touch us, and why those who can't hang with the work ethic fall to the wayside.

I don't know who you've been around to have adopted such a world view, but they damnsho ain't the folks who work with me. Daily. We inspire each other to find new stuff, try new things, make new connections. And we exist in an atmosphere that allows for/promotes this freedom of experimentation.


"Make your passion your job, and you'll never work a day in your life."


.02

Best advice ever. I've been programming since I was 16, started professionally at 22 when I graduated college and still love it 25 years later. It amazes me every day that I get paid so well to do it.

Personally, I believe as a whole kids today are lot less mature, and have no concept of loss, value, or anything outside of their own little world. Which is not un-normal, we were the same way - just to a lesser extent.

I think the voting age is fine right where it is. 18 is an adult. Buy a rifle, serve your country, get some smokes. Do what you please.

As I feel you should be able to buy a rifle at 18 if you are able to serve your country in defense - I also believe you should be able to vote to for the people that may send you to war as well.

Some of us twice that age are still not grown up yet

Twice that age? Who are you fooling?

At this juncture that may be an improvement over the two choices we had in 2016.

You do realize that professors have no input into actually running a college or the decisions made by the board, right? lol

Did Socrates Say: ‘When Debate is Lost, Slander Becomes Tool of the Loser’?
No evidence suggests Socrates ever said this, or that this phrase existed before 2008.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/socrates-debate-lost-slander-loser/

It's been proven that the part of the human brain that processes fear, especially in men, isn't fully developed until about the age of 25... that's why 18-21 year old kids make the best soldiers (and why 18-21 year old boys who aren't in the military still run around like they are bulletproof)... it's not their fault, it's just that their brain doesn't process fear the same way somebody closer to 30 does... as they get a little older they are MUCH less willing to take the risks the average young soldier is asked to take... for every year over 18 that we raised the enlistment age, our enlistment would go down exponentially.

Search results for: could have Socrates ever said ‘When Debate is Lost, Slander Becomes Tool of the Loser’?

Your search did not yield any results. Your search terms may need to be revised, or we have not written an article on that topic.

Snopes