Lower Voting Age
Evan Cholak
English 15
Soyoung Burke
Lowering the Voting Age to 16
This proposal will lower the current voting age from 18 to 16. The purpose of the proposal is to give American youth citizens their freedom and right to vote. Voting has been around for a very long time. New Zealand was the first major country to gain universal voting rights or suffrage. The United States has six Amendments the are based on voting laws. For example the 26th Amendment was presented to give 18 year olds the right to vote. So, if we don’t let youths vote we are taking away their right as American citizens and we are discriminating against them. Youths should be treated like every other American citizen and if they want the right to vote then we should give it to them.
There are many problems with not giving youths the right to vote. If the youth in our country feel as if they are being discriminated against then what’s the point of living in this country? If we aren’t letting youths vote then really we aren’t letting them be citizens or giving them their freedom that they deserve. At 16 years of age your mind is at its most unique state. Its beginning to develop as an adult and it’s the time when your most open to making decisions. Since this is true why aren’t we letting the youth vote? it’s a waste of extraordinary opinion of our youth. Let the youth speak and share their idea you never know what they might come up with. One of the issues is, that the youth suffer under a double standard of having adult responsibilities but not rights. In 1971 the United States made the 26th Amendment which allowed 18-20 year old the right to vote. During the Vietnam war Americans saw the double standard of forcing 18 year olds to fight for their country but weren’t given the right to vote. Right now the youth of our country are subjected to adult criminal penalties even though they aren’t given the right to vote. Frank Zimring found that “Between 1922 and 1955 forty Americans
English 15
Soyoung Burke
Lowering the Voting Age to 16
This proposal will lower the current voting age from 18 to 16. The purpose of the proposal is to give American youth citizens their freedom and right to vote. Voting has been around for a very long time. New Zealand was the first major country to gain universal voting rights or suffrage. The United States has six Amendments the are based on voting laws. For example the 26th Amendment was presented to give 18 year olds the right to vote. So, if we don’t let youths vote we are taking away their right as American citizens and we are discriminating against them. Youths should be treated like every other American citizen and if they want the right to vote then we should give it to them.
There are many problems with not giving youths the right to vote. If the youth in our country feel as if they are being discriminated against then what’s the point of living in this country? If we aren’t letting youths vote then really we aren’t letting them be citizens or giving them their freedom that they deserve. At 16 years of age your mind is at its most unique state. Its beginning to develop as an adult and it’s the time when your most open to making decisions. Since this is true why aren’t we letting the youth vote? it’s a waste of extraordinary opinion of our youth. Let the youth speak and share their idea you never know what they might come up with. One of the issues is, that the youth suffer under a double standard of having adult responsibilities but not rights. In 1971 the United States made the 26th Amendment which allowed 18-20 year old the right to vote. During the Vietnam war Americans saw the double standard of forcing 18 year olds to fight for their country but weren’t given the right to vote. Right now the youth of our country are subjected to adult criminal penalties even though they aren’t given the right to vote. Frank Zimring found that “Between 1922 and 1955 forty Americans