By Brayden Yin
In 2019, The US House of Representatives rejected a bill that wanted the voting age lowered to 16. Currently, to vote for president, you have to be at least 18 years old. The House was right to reject that bill, and here is why.
In America today, many young people show interest in civics, or politics. However, they are barred from voting. Some cities and towns allow sixteen year olds to vote in smaller elections, like mayor.
Before the Vietnam War, only people over the age of 21 could vote for president. But the many 18 year olds that fought in the war believed that if they could serve the country, they could vote for their country’s leader. A bill was introduced to give voting rights to all citizens over 18, and it passed. The voting age has gone down once, and it does not have to again.
The original voting age was 21, now we are pushing it further and further down. What next? Voting rights to High Schoolers? I feel that the government should not just let younger people vote for somebody. The teenagers might just vote for somebody just because they are popular. They may not even know much about the candidate. There is also something called “manipulation”. A 16 year old may have a friend who voted for a certain candidate. The friend could tell the person that hasn’t voted yet to vote for the candidate that they voted for. If a person can fall for such simple tricks like that, they probably are not capable of voting. Therefore, A 16 year old does not have the maturity of an 18 year old.
The argument that the 16 year olds can vote is that if they can drive, they can vote. This is a good base to build a bill on, but as I said earlier, 16 year olds may not be mature enough to vote for a good candidate. The people think that because the teenagers have interests in civics, they should always be allowed to vote. That is not always the case. Some teenagers may feel pressured to vote, because they have the right, and since they are in college, an already stressful time, it could lead to them snapping under the pressure. It would be better for people to get out of college, then vote.
My solution is that the voting age should go back to 21. In that time, most people have finished college and are looking for a job. Voting is the perfect way to get people interested in politics, and maybe, the voters could become politicians themselves.
The voting age should be changed to 21, and if you agree, please do not vote to have the voting age lowered again.
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