The Case For Lowering the Voting Age

Children are the most unrepresented group in America. It is not surprising that this occurs, after all, children cannot vote. The fact that children cannot vote is a logical idea in a democracy. Representative democracy requires a citizenry that can make an informed decision about a candidate and young children simply cannot do this. It would be illogical to have mothers go into a polling place and cast a vote not only for themselves but also for their child. So what then am I actually proposing? It is my opinion that the voting age should be lowered to 16. This proposition is not new, it has been brought forth in several states such as Washington and California and has been enacted in several countries such as Austria and Brazil.

Suffrage has always been an incremental process. In ancient Greece is was all adult, non-enslaved males; in the United Kingdom it was all titled, white, adult, male, land owners; in the 13 colonies it was all adult, white, male landowners; eventually it was all adult, white, males; then all adult males, and finally all adults. In America adult was defined as 21 until the Twenty-Sixth Amendment when it was lowered to all citizens over 18 and up. These changes came about due to increasingly more progressive interpretations of who was qualified to vote. The original argument for changing the voting age from 21 to 18 did not hinge on whether 18 year olds were qualified to vote, but instead on whether a person who was old enough to go to war deserved the right to vote for the leaders who sent him. Congress, as well as the America people, believed strongly in the slogan “Old enough to fight, old enough to vote,” which resulted in the Twenty-Sixth Amendment being the fastest amendment to be ratified by three-fourths of the states legislatures.

It seems clear therefore that 16 year olds deserve the right to vote. It is true that 16 year olds cannot legally serve in the military, however, the argument that those who have to go to war should have a say in who sends them there still applies. To make things clearer let’s start with an example: A person turns 18 in December 2010. At that point he is old enough to serve and, it being peace time, decides to enlist. A few months later in February, his commander in chief asks congress to declare war on another country. Our soldier now has to fight in a war authorized by politicians he never voted for, and which he will not have the opportunity to vote for until November 2012, 2 years into the war. So how do we rectify this situation?

For the United States to officially go to war Congress must pass a resolution authorizing action against another nation. While the senate has terms of 6 years, making it hard for a determined citizenry to effect change in the senate, representatives have a term of only 2 years. Thus by lowering the voting age to 16, anytime House of Representatives that declares war was voted into power by the people who can be drafted. No matter what year a person’s birthday is, they will have been able to vote one time before they are able to be drafted.

There are many other arguments both in favor of and against lowering the voting age. Every argument against lowering the voting age seems to apply as well to lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 as it does to lowering the voting age from 18 to 16. From the fact that the voting age was in fact lowered and few people argue that we should raise it, we can surmise that being able to control one’s destiny is more important than the fact that he is too young. Similarly most arguments in favor of lowering the voting age from 18-16 apply just as well to lowering the voting age from 18-6. From this we can surmise that there must be very important concerns to outweigh the potential for damage and abuse. It is my opinion that there is no more important concern than controlling who sends a person to war.

Granting more suffrage is rarely a popular viewpoint among politicians. In our countries history we have only done it 3 times. The reason for this is simple, because the people who want suffrage don’t have the right to vote, no one represents them enough to grant them the right to vote. It will take immense public support and courageous politicians to spearhead such a plan. It will be an uphill battle, but will be worth it in the end.