"Our young people, including 16- and 17-year-olds . . Today, the debate of lowering the voting age in the country from 18 to 16 has surfaced. The paper will address whether the individual feels positive, effect on the sense of responsibility, character, and societal expectations of teens. There are lots of reasons for more youth engagement: the triumph of the Yes side in the recent referendum, as . Indeed, only 50 percent of 18-29 year-olds voted in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, an 11 percent increase from 2016, but still much lower than the 80 percent of voters those the age of 60 who cast a ballot. . Japan: Voting Age Lowered from 20 to 18. lowering the voting age would be harmful to voters because 16 year olds are typically not worried about politics . However, it did not reduce the age at which people could stand for election to become Members of Parliament. The central claim made by McAllister, for instance, is that electoral turnout fell in most advanced democracies after the voting age was lowered from 21 to 18 from the 1970s onwards. There are two good reasons to reduce the voting age. are, the greater their participation. Research into the possible consequences of lowering the voting age to 16 used to be rather speculative in nature, as there were few countries that had implemented earlier enfranchisement. The Federal government in a Cabinet meeting recently agreed to lower the age of voters from 21 to 18. 3. Argument 1 - The voting age should be lowered to 16. Research shows that voting is habitual. If teenagers that are now. . Understanding the Policy Drivers and Effects of Voting Age Reform. The survey found that 75 percent . An overwhelming majority of Americans oppose the idea of granting voting rights to citizens younger than 18, according to a Hill-HarrisX poll released on Thursday. On this date in 1971, President Richard Nixon, under popular pressure, formally certified the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18. . Research into the possible consequences of lowering the voting age to 16 used to be rather speculative in nature, as there were few countries that had implemented earlier enfranchisement. However, there are other countries in Europe where people as young as 16 are legal to vote. Many opposed the fact that people from lower economic classes could not serve in the military. The long debate over lowering the voting age began during World War II and intensified during the Vietnam War, when. It will have to amend the Malaysian Constitution to allow the minimum age limit of voters at . In 1971, the U.S. already lowered the voting age from 21 to 18 and the latter is also the age citizens in most countries vote. A major argument against lowering the voting age is that young people's brains aren't fully developed until they're in their mid-20s. Top Ten Reasons to Lower the Voting Age Lowering the voting age is a new concept for many people, but there are many good reasons that show doing so is a sound and ethical choice. At age 16, citizens can drive, pay taxes, and for the first time work without any restriction on hours. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. Lowering the voting age could improve the voter turnout rates for U.S. elections as well. action adults age to 18 allow american argument authority believe better campus chairman citizens civil clause committee concerned congress congressional constitutional amendment course deal. Advocates for lowering the voting age argue that it could increase government responsiveness and help reinvigorate our democracy. Today, there is a growing movement to allow teenagers aged 16 and 17 to vote in elections. WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) announced today that she reintroduced legislation in the House of Representatives to lower the voting age in America to 16 years old. Georgia reduced the voting age to 18 years in 1943 by constitutional amendment; in all other states citizens must have passed their 21st birthdays before becoming eligible to vote in federal, state or local elections. according to the united states elections project's analysis of us census bureau data, just 16% of eligible voters ages 18-29 voted in the 2014 election, compared to 30% for ages 30-44, 43% for 45-59, and 55% for age 60 and up. The 26th Amendment was eventually passed to lower the voting age to 18 years. The average invalid voting rate over the past three House of Councillors elections was 2.88 per cent, whereas this time it was 2.65 per cent. However, no negative consequences for turnout from lowering the voting age to 18 were found at these more current reductions to 16; rather there were statistically significant positive effects. First, lowering the voting age will give teens the right to speak their minds. It's also a matter of fairness: when unable to vote . 1. Two additional amendments accompanied the lowering of the voting age, namely, PRO. There have been recent campaigns to reduce it to 16 and there have been reports on the issue by the Electoral Commission and the Youth Citizenship Commission. Voting earlier, while still being in school and more likely to . The other aspects of young people's political behaviour that has garnered some interest are their voting or political preferences. A common criticism against lowering the voting age is that those under 18 do not have sufficient maturity and responsibility to vote in elections so that their voting decisions should be valued. Abstract: This paper will provide an economic analysis of the implications of lowering the minimum legal drinking age from 21 to 18. The United States ratified the 26th Amendment in 1971 after weighing the pros and cons of lowering the voting age from 21 to 18. The Representation of the People Act 1969 brought about other electoral changes such as . This effect is observed in multiple studies and is strongly pronounced for 16- to . Con: Their Brains Aren't Fully Developed Yet. The change means approximately 2.4 million new voters aged 18 and 19 joined the electorate in a reform to better reflect young people's opinions in politics. Andrew . The variable MLDA (an acronym derived from Minimum Legal Drinking Age) is the proportion of 18 to 20 year-olds that can legally drink beer in state s in time t, and the coefficient on this variable is our best estimate of the impact on mortality rates of lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18. Young men felt it was unfair that they were being sent by politicians to fight and die in a war, and that their voices had no ability to remove the politicians from office until after the fact.. The percentage of voters then will decrease even more due to a larger voting population, but the same amount of voters. Advertisement. However, many center-right parties disagree with this sentiment, and the current voting age for national elections remains 18 years old. Second, as my recently published research shows, it makes their. Q: Advantange of voting be 18 16. The question whether to lower the voting age in the UK has been the subject of ongoing debate. A revised election law lowering the minimum age to vote in Japan to 18 from 20 took effect Sunday, in a change that will be applied to the upcoming House of Councillors election. Many states in our country have extended voting rights to 17 year olds to vote in primaries to . The 26 Amendment lowered the legal voting age in the United States from 21 to 18. The effects of reducing the voting age from 21 years to 18 years are: 1. In several countries, it has been debated whether the voting age should be lowered from the current most often used age limit of 18, to the age of 16 (Zeglovits, Reference Zeglovits 2013).Expectations regarding the beneficial effects of extending suffrage to 16-year-olds are based on two main causal mechanisms. However, lowering the voting age to 18 will not change Malaysian society for the better if policies are not introduced in tandem with it. First, it is likely to help young people establish the habit of voting lifelong. 3. That's what sparked the 26th Amendment, which in 1971 lowered the voting age in every election to 18. 4 Reasons to Lower the U.S. Voting Age to 16 Reason #1: We Need to Make Voting a Habit Lowering the voting age can lead to a long-term increase in voter turnout, bringing more citizens in touch with their government and pushing the government to better serve its people. You can read our arguments, research, and conclusions here. "At 16 years of age you are able to marry, pay taxes, and leave home. A new age requirement bill was introduced last week by a Democratic councilman and has already garnered significant support, sparking a national conversation about the pros and cons of lowering the voting age to 16. This was only lowered in 2006 by the Election Administration Act. At first blush, lowering the voting age might seem like a far-fetched way to break this cycle. The voting age was lowered to 18 in 1969. Public support for lowering the voting age in Taiwan has also . It encourages youth participation in public life, giving the younger generation an opportunity to be the change makers. Leading up to that . People under 18 are contributing and active members of society. In fact, there are two such bills before the House right now and one in the Senate.There have been similar bills in the past offered by Liberals and New Democrats alike. In 1971, at the peak of the youth protests of the baby boom, the United States passed the 26th Amendment, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18. According to one professional, "This is a way to get young people actually excited" (Alcindor). Young people have adult responsibilities, but are denied the same rights. Given that we believe that political maturity is the key issue in this debate, our conclusion is that the voting age should not be lowered to 16. This has changed over the past decade. In many areas of the law, a teenager aged 16 is regarded as capable of taking up responsibility. South Korea only lowered the voting age from 20 to 18 in 2019, following in the footsteps of Japan, which amended its laws in 2015. Meng's measure seeks to replace the 26th amendment to the United States Constitution with a new amendment that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote. Promise number 17 in PH's election manifesto (Book of Hope) states that "The Pakatan Harapan Government will lower the voting age limit to 18 years". Using the self-assessed likelihood of voting on a scale of 0-10, under-18s have a low average intention of turning out, with a mean score of 5.91. This, he. The amendment lowers the voting age from 20 to 18 years of age. There will be about 7.4 million new voters. 16 year old have spent their whole life in school . Chronology of lowering the voting age to 18. Voting age in different countries is different.It varies from 16 to 25 years in different countries.In my opinion the ideal age is 18.At 18 one gets mature to decide as to who can be a good choice for parliament.Also at 18 one attains considerable education to know about democracy,political process and franchising. It follows a pattern we already use in society. All told, these bills number nearly a dozen. Keywords: minimum legal drinking age. In Canada, the House of Commons is debating a private member's bill by a New Democratic Party (NDP) member of Parliament that would lower the voting age to sixteen. The reason it was lowered from 21 to 18 is because 18 year olds were being drafted and dying for their country but were denied a vote. List of the Pros of Lowering the Voting Age to 16 1. The findings of our research are that political maturity does indeed increase with age until the mid-20s and then stabilizes. Answer (1 of 4): It dates from the Vietnam War, where we instituted a peacetime draft of men 18 and up. In the past decade-and-a-half, a number of countries have discussed a further reform that would give voting rights to 16-year-olds. The gap in the level of turnout between this group of adolescents and older first-time voters (18- to 20-year-olds) ranges between +2.3% and +10.0%, meaning that 16- and 17-year-olds are more likely to turn out to vote than older first-time voters. The following is a chronological list of the dates upon which countries lowered the . We now have a range of countries in different locations, mostly in Europe and South America, where 16- and 17-year-olds can vote in some or all elections. If you are deemed old enough to become a parent, get married and contribute to the treasury, then . . April 18, 2018. This book explores the consequences of lowering the voting age to 16 from a global perspective, bringing together empirical research from countries where at least some 16-year-olds are able to vote. Her ultimately successful fight for women's voting rights remains one of the most important milestones in changes to the laws governing the electorate in the UK over the last 185 years. In the 1960s and 1970s there was a debate concerning a possible change in the voting age from 20 or 21 to 18, and most countries concluded that debate by lowering the voting age. The Voting Age. THE issue is not about determining the effects of lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 on election outcomes, "Too early to determine effects, say political analysts" (The Star, July 3 . "Combined with voting reforms like universal registration, lowering the voting age would give teenagers a chance to learn the routine of elections . The book engages with the key debates on earlier enfranchisement. India has the largest number of voters compared to any other democratic country. Young people share their point of view. As a sixteen-year-old, students are still legally required to attend school and . 43 of 2015, text of the bill, House of Representatives website (in Japanese)). The complete text of the 26th Amendment states: Section 1. 4Pro: 18 is actually a bad age to start voting. 14 A: Based on what i know, the issue is not about determining the effects of lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 on election outcomes, "Too early to determine effects, say political analysts" (The Star, July 3). . Yet, this argument does not stand up to closer scrutiny. Section 2. This is lower than among respondents aged between 18 and 21 (6.24) and between those aged between 22 and 25 (6.98), while respondents over 30 have a mean score of 7.38. Finally, in the case of Malaysia, lowering the voting age was an election promise that had been made by PH. Every citizen of the United States, who has attained the age of twenty-one years, and has resided within the state for six months and within the county and voting precinct for the terms provided by. By shifting the voting age to 16 or 17, the results of each election would become a better representation of the majority of the population. Momentum is building around the world to lower the voting age to 16 years. Second, we determined the effect on the percentage of invalid votes. [ … This will see millions of voters added to the electoral register, taking . A similar shift occurred in the 1970s when the age was reduced from 21 to 18. [ 28][ 29] over the last 30 years, voter turnout for 18- to 29-year-olds has never exceeded 21% in a midterm election. If the voting age were lowered to 16, then most voters would be sophomores, juniors, or seniors in high school when voting in their first election. Research into the possible consequences of lowering the voting age to 16 used to be rather speculative in nature, as there were few countries that had implemented earlier enfranchisement. The voting age was changed once before, in 1970, when Congress lowered it from 21 to 18. Lowering the voting age will also help to increase the civic engagement of young people. was much higher than the estimate for 18-24-year-olds (54%). Each qualifying adult receives just one vote. They will have a say in who they think should win an election, as well as everyone else. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. 18 is the age of adulthood in the United States, and adults should have the right to make their own decisions about alcohol consumption. Protests occurred in opposition to the war and many chose to "dodge the . It could improve voter turnout rates. A new age requirement bill was introduced last week by a Democratic councilman and has . The voting age of 18 should not be changed to 16. readers who fail to seek counsel from appropriate health professionals assume risk of any potential ill effects. The paper will address the variables of including teens in the electoral decisions by lowering the voting age from 18 to 16. The Representation of the People Act 1969 lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, with effect from 1970 and remained in force until the Scottish Independence Referendum Act 2013 which allowed 16-year-olds to . "Proposals to change the voting age from 21 to 18 first emerged in the 1940s, and gained steam in the context of the Vietnam War as college students led organizing efforts to lower the voting age . A voting age is a minimum age established by law that a person must attain before they become eligible to vote in a public election. However, this scientific argument demonstrates why 18 is a mostly arbitrary number when it comes to something like voting, not to mention: teenage brains aren . Die Linke Party Leader Katja Kipping said, "16-year-olds are no less interested and informed than 18-year-olds. Allowing 18- to 20-year-olds to drink alcohol in regulated environments with supervision would decrease unsafe drinking activity. Which were effects of the reinstitution of the draft in the United States? Numbers like these suggest that lowering the voting age could effect a dramatic change in our political landscape. younger first-time voters are significantly more likely to participate in elections than first-time voters between the age of 18 . In these uncertain political times, the youth voice has become louder, more engaged, and more active. My research with Angela Fertig examined the impact of the drinking age by looking back at the 1980s, when many states moved from a minimum of 18 to 21. The minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) has long been a point of contention in American society as both economists and politicians alike vet their ideas for the optimal MLDA . . Select all that apply. In state after state and around the world, allowing young people to vote in elections has had a real positive effects. Research shows that 16-17-year-olds are more likely to vote than 18-20-year-olds—so giving them the vote when . 3 The regressions are weighted by the age-specific . On Tuesday, Malaysian lawmakers successfully voted to lower the country's voting age from 21 to 18. There are fewer drunk driving traffic accidents and fatalities in many . . The advocates for a lower voting age seek to strengthen their case by noting that 16-year-olds participate in political debates on social media and events, work, pay taxes, rent houses, and join the armed forces in some countries. KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia will not implement a new lower voting age as scheduled this year, potentially affecting over a million people if a general election is held as expected by the end of the year. Washington, D.C. could soon become allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in federal elections. Young people strongly supported the amendment because they believed that "if they were old enough to fight, they were old enough to vote". Reasons to lower the voting age include the following: Extending voting rights to 16- and 17-year-olds is consistent with the fact that turning 16 has special significance in our culture. Washington, D.C. could soon become allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in federal elections. It was the fastest passage of any amendment in U.S history. The lowering of the voting age from 20 to 18 in Japan has revealed various inadequacies in the country's civic education system. Our study found that a lower drinking age . the lowering of the voting age for citizens of the state will have no effect upon the outcome of the 1944 presidential . You can legally have sex, which implies it is the age at which the Government deems you old enough to become a parent. Today, there is no reason for a further change. (June 24, 2015) The Public Office Election Law was amended by Japan's legislature and promulgated on June 19, 2015 (Act No. The Scottish Parliament passed legislation enabling 16 and 17 year olds to vote in the referendum on Scottish independence in September 2014 but . The Representation of the People Act reduced the voting age from 21 to 18. Increased participation in the political processes. The . The idea behind this was that eighteen-year-olds are able to fight for their country but not able to decide who represents them. 2. . As a 16 year old themselves, this SpunOut.ie reader thinks the voting age should stay at 18. But, before young voters can shake-up the make-up of our parliament, they first have to show up. It will have to amend the Malaysian Constitution to allow the minimum age limit of voters at . People at age 16 have no political interest most of the time. The drinking age should be lowered to 18 because you can vote at eighteen, buy tobacco, it'll reduce the thrill of breaking the law, evidence supports that early introduction of drinking is the safest way to reduce juvenile alcohol abuse, and college people that are not 21 drink also. Freshmen Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., proposed lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 for . It is high time to let young people aged 16 and over have a say.". Yet the. Today, the most common voting age is 18 years; however, voting ages as low as 16 and as high as 25 currently exist (see list below). There's a growing discussion about whether to lower the voting age to 16, particularly in the wake of the march for our lives and climate change protests. Changing the voting age by any amount would not be fair to the percentage of younger voters that are active from ages 18- 24 ( The u.s cencus bureau reported 36% of them voted in 2012 ) , But there would be a even less percentage of active voters if the voting age was reduces by 2 . The Federal government in a Cabinet meeting recently agreed to lower the age of voters from 21 to 18. When Malaysia next goes to the polls, more than two-thirds of the population will be eligible to vote. A study of 16- and 17-year-old Americans showed that they are "generally indistinguishable in their capacities to function as citizens and to vote responsibly from the youngest adults (18-year-olds) who are entitled to vote…[and] that to deny 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote is arbitrary." What is the voting age in Belgium? They wouldn't vote anyway due to the lackof knowledge. 2. 1.